A special called meeting of the Dallas Housing & Homelessness Solutions Committee will be held Tuesday afternoon to receive presentations on shelter and service options that could help the city get a handle on its homelessness problem.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12), the committee’s chair, called for the meeting. Officials will hear from representatives of a tiny home community project, an emergency shelter builder, and a hospice care provider for people experiencing homelessness. Make of that what you will.
Tuesday’s special called meeting follows a controversial pitch to relocate The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center out of downtown. While the proposal drew some scrutiny, it put a spotlight on homelessness in the city center. Downtown has borne the brunt of homeless visibility in recent years, spurring recent initiatives on the part of officials and stakeholders to get a handle on the situation.
It looks like the committee is going to get pitched on building a tiny shelter site for the homeless. Pallet Shelter, a Washington-based firm that constructs prefabricated, rapidly deployable shelters as a response to homelessness or disasters.
On top of producing such units, Pallet Shelter helps local governments and nonprofits establish “shelter villages” that include hygiene facilities, communal spaces, and on-site access to social services.