I met a homeless gentlemen last winter at the bus stop. January or February of this year. It was extremely cold out, i bought the guy a coffee and i gave him a few bucks. I asked him why he doesn't go to one of the hotel shelters? He said, he wasn't allowed to bring his shopping cart where he keeps all his things, all his personal belongings are in that cart. And there’s no access to food there.
This is why shelters need to be transitioned to SRO (single-room-occupancy); which is pretty close to the modular housing model.
The rationale is this, its a small, private, one-room space, probably with its own, very small bathroom; this allows someone a secure place to store their goods, booze/drugs etc, to use in private, to not be kicked out cause its morning etc etc.
They get a key or better still a key card to their room; and no one else can get in except staff, and then only under certain extenuating circumstances.
The model has a host of benefits; it not only induces people off the street, and provides them greater dignity, privacy, and security; it does that for everyone else in the facility too. When you have facilities of 4 to 10 or more per room, one person's muttering, snoring or sleeplessness can affect everyone else.
Bonus here, separate rooms significantly reduces transmission of disease, it also makes it much easier to give someone a fixed address allowing them to get much needed ID and access a host of government programs/supports.
That type of housing should still be transitional to a normal apartment for anyone capable of sustaining same; but its a much improved interim situation.
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Separately, we do need to offer additional institutional care for those unsuited to living on their own. That care needs to be of a higher, and more dignified standard that has been the case historically, with as much personal freedom as possible.
The hotel model, if its one person to a room should allow the storage of goods that would fit in a shopping cart; of course, they wouldn't let you take the cart itself to the room. That may require a more innovative solution, ranging from a locker-like space, to agreeing to get someone another cart if they have to leave the premises.
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