<!-- wp:html --><p>Of the 66 people who have stayed at DignityMoves' Santa Barbara prefab tiny home community, 36 have gone on to find permanent housing.</p>
<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
<p>One year ago, DignityMoves opened a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-pallet-building-prefab-tiny-homes-for-the-homeless-2022-10">prefab tiny home community</a> to house Santa Barbara, California's unsheltered residents.<br />
Of the 66 people who have stayed at the community, 36 have gone on to find permanent housing.<br />
Take a look around the tiny home community.</p>
<p>It's been one year since a prefabricated tiny home community designed to temporarily shelter the unhoused residents of Santa Barbara, California has opened. More than half of its residents have gone on to find permanent housing. </p>
<p>Santa Barbara is a slice of oceanside paradise in Southern California, about a two-hour drive north of Los Angeles. As you might expect, it's as picturesque as any coastal and expensive Southern California city.</p>
<p>But what most pictures of quaint Santa Barbara might not show you is that its county is also on track to becoming a safe haven for people who are unsheltered, so long as nonprofit DignityMoves <a href="https://dignitymoves.org/santa-barbara-capital-campaign/">has its way</a>.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">Let's rewind one year to July 2021.</div>
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<p class="copyright">Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic</p>
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<p>At the time, DignityMoves had just completed its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-new-prefab-tiny-home-village-for-homeless-california-2022-7">new tiny home community</a> in downtown Santa Barbara.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">In a former parking lot flanked by palm trees, blue skies, and views of the mountains, 1016 Santa Barbara stood — and still stands — as a secure community for unhoused folks in the downtown area.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-new-prefab-tiny-home-village-for-homeless-california-2022-7#the-county-of-santa-barbara-provided-700000-to-help-finance-the-build--30">tiny home community</a>, located about 1.5 miles from the coastline, cost $1.7 million to build in 2022. Santa Barbara County provided $700,000 to help finance the build while companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-partnered-tiny-home-maker-unveil-its-tiny-home-project-2020-11">Ikea</a> donated furniture.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">The community was designed to serve as interim housing, a way for previously unsheltered people to transition into the next phase of their life — permanent housing.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>Before moving into the 34-home village, residents were previously sleeping on the streets in the immediate neighborhood.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">And over the course of one year, the sunny collection of tiny homes has blossomed into a success story for the nonprofit and its residents.</div>
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<p class="copyright">Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic</p>
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<p>The community has housed 66 people since its opening. Of those, about 36 people have moved into permanent housing, a spokesperson told Insider in an email. And there's still plenty of work left to do: The <a href="https://dignitymoves.org/santa-barbara-capital-campaign/">nonprofit estimates</a> there are about 3,500 people who are unhoused in Santa Barbara county.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">The property's tiny homes were built by Los Angeles-based Boss Tiny House. About 20% of them are occupied by couples.</div>
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<p class="copyright">Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic</p>
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<p>All of these green-accented homes are topped with terracotta-colored roofs, giving them a tiny <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/popular-tiny-home-maker-230000-240-square-foot-model-photos-2023-8">accessory dwelling unit</a> flair.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">Inside, the units have the same comforts as a college dorm.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>They all have a bed, a window, a desk with a chair, and an air conditioner and heater. </p>
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<div class="slide-title">And most importantly, there are locks on every door.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>This locking door is what sets <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-spend-30-million-build-1200-tiny-homes-photos-2023-3">prefab tiny home communities</a> like this Santa Barbara location apart from any congregate shelter.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">"We take for granted what it feels like to be able to be alone," Elizabeth Funk, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit, told Insider.</div>
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<p class="copyright">Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic</p>
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<p>Giving residents the ability to lock their own doors provides them a sense of safety while creating an environment where people are more likely to use the additional supportive services, Funk said.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">These interim residents also have access to several community-oriented spaces.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>This includes on-site case workers, a dining hall, a computer lab, gardens, and spaces for pets.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">And the on-site restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities help keep its residents clean and healthy.</div>
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<p class="copyright">Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic</p>
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<p>These units were built out of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-ny-couple-building-airbnb-shipping-container-home-tiny-cabins-2022-9">shipping containers</a>. </p>
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<div class="slide-title">It costs the DignityMoves about $35,000 a year per person to run this location.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>Besides the resources provided to the residents, this cost also includes additional services like property maintenance.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">According to Funk, only a small percentage of people who end up unsheltered start with existing mental or behavioral issues that stop them from being "self-sufficient."</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>But the more time these folks spend on the streets in survival mode, the more this percentage "goes skyrocketing fast." So by the time they've been unhoused for five or six years — which Funk says is about the average in Santa Barbara — the number of them who have "serious behavioral health issues" becomes much higher.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">DignityMoves has needed to relocate about 16 of its residents to other facilities like treatment programs or psychiatric care.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>But for the most part, Funk has seen "shocking transformations."</p>
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<div class="slide-title">Besides this downtown Santa Barbara community, the nonprofit operates additional locations in Sonoma County and the Bay Area, including San Francisco.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>But we could see plenty more in the future, especially around Santa Barbara.</p>
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<div class="slide-title">This location has been such a success story, Funk says DignityMoves is now trying to build an additional roughly 400 beds across Santa Barbara County with help from the local government, a roughly $20 million project.</div>
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<p class="copyright">DignityMoves</p>
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<p>"One of the big resistance points is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-affordable-housing-real-estate-ignores-community-input-opposition-2023-8">NIMBYs</a>," Funk said. "If we do this right, we can have those NIMBYs be the ones begging to have a shelter in their neighborhood because they can see the difference."</p>
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<div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prefab-tiny-home-community-california-is-photos-2023-9">Business Insider</a></div><!-- /wp:html -->
Of the 66 people who have stayed at DignityMoves’ Santa Barbara prefab tiny home community, 36 have gone on to find permanent housing.
DignityMoves
One year ago, DignityMoves opened a prefab tiny home community to house Santa Barbara, California’s unsheltered residents.
Of the 66 people who have stayed at the community, 36 have gone on to find permanent housing.
Take a look around the tiny home community.
It’s been one year since a prefabricated tiny home community designed to temporarily shelter the unhoused residents of Santa Barbara, California has opened. More than half of its residents have gone on to find permanent housing.
Santa Barbara is a slice of oceanside paradise in Southern California, about a two-hour drive north of Los Angeles. As you might expect, it’s as picturesque as any coastal and expensive Southern California city.
But what most pictures of quaint Santa Barbara might not show you is that its county is also on track to becoming a safe haven for people who are unsheltered, so long as nonprofit DignityMoves has its way.
Let’s rewind one year to July 2021.
Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic
At the time, DignityMoves had just completed its new tiny home community in downtown Santa Barbara.
In a former parking lot flanked by palm trees, blue skies, and views of the mountains, 1016 Santa Barbara stood — and still stands — as a secure community for unhoused folks in the downtown area.
DignityMoves
The tiny home community, located about 1.5 miles from the coastline, cost $1.7 million to build in 2022. Santa Barbara County provided $700,000 to help finance the build while companies like Ikea donated furniture.
The community was designed to serve as interim housing, a way for previously unsheltered people to transition into the next phase of their life — permanent housing.
DignityMoves
Before moving into the 34-home village, residents were previously sleeping on the streets in the immediate neighborhood.
And over the course of one year, the sunny collection of tiny homes has blossomed into a success story for the nonprofit and its residents.
Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic
The community has housed 66 people since its opening. Of those, about 36 people have moved into permanent housing, a spokesperson told Insider in an email. And there’s still plenty of work left to do: The nonprofit estimates there are about 3,500 people who are unhoused in Santa Barbara county.
The property’s tiny homes were built by Los Angeles-based Boss Tiny House. About 20% of them are occupied by couples.
Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic
All of these green-accented homes are topped with terracotta-colored roofs, giving them a tiny accessory dwelling unit flair.
Inside, the units have the same comforts as a college dorm.
DignityMoves
They all have a bed, a window, a desk with a chair, and an air conditioner and heater.
And most importantly, there are locks on every door.
DignityMoves
This locking door is what sets prefab tiny home communities like this Santa Barbara location apart from any congregate shelter.
“We take for granted what it feels like to be able to be alone,” Elizabeth Funk, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit, told Insider.
Image Courtesy of Alex Siegel, My Mosaic
Giving residents the ability to lock their own doors provides them a sense of safety while creating an environment where people are more likely to use the additional supportive services, Funk said.
These interim residents also have access to several community-oriented spaces.
DignityMoves
This includes on-site case workers, a dining hall, a computer lab, gardens, and spaces for pets.
And the on-site restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities help keep its residents clean and healthy.
It costs the DignityMoves about $35,000 a year per person to run this location.
DignityMoves
Besides the resources provided to the residents, this cost also includes additional services like property maintenance.
According to Funk, only a small percentage of people who end up unsheltered start with existing mental or behavioral issues that stop them from being “self-sufficient.”
DignityMoves
But the more time these folks spend on the streets in survival mode, the more this percentage “goes skyrocketing fast.” So by the time they’ve been unhoused for five or six years — which Funk says is about the average in Santa Barbara — the number of them who have “serious behavioral health issues” becomes much higher.
DignityMoves has needed to relocate about 16 of its residents to other facilities like treatment programs or psychiatric care.
DignityMoves
But for the most part, Funk has seen “shocking transformations.”
Besides this downtown Santa Barbara community, the nonprofit operates additional locations in Sonoma County and the Bay Area, including San Francisco.
DignityMoves
But we could see plenty more in the future, especially around Santa Barbara.
This location has been such a success story, Funk says DignityMoves is now trying to build an additional roughly 400 beds across Santa Barbara County with help from the local government, a roughly $20 million project.
DignityMoves
“One of the big resistance points is the NIMBYs,” Funk said. “If we do this right, we can have those NIMBYs be the ones begging to have a shelter in their neighborhood because they can see the difference.”
