Advocates for housing the homeless are proposing designated campsites and micro-houses in Tucson, based on successful pilot programs in Eugene, Oregon.
City leaders recently formed a work group to look into alternative housing programs as a way to help the homeless get into stable transitional housing.
The group arose from the problems the city had with an encampment downtown, called Safe Park by its residents, who brought large wooden boxes called “dream pods” to sidewalks along major downtown streets. The dream pods were removed and urban camping was almost banned in Tucson, but the city decided against it.
“There are a lot of issues with homelessness. Homelessness is not a crime,” said City Councilman Richard Fimbres, who is leading the work group. “We don’t want to make it one. We want to provide help as much as we can, and it’s going to take a balance.”
There are an estimated 567 homeless people in the metro area, according to a 2015 point-in-time count by the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness.
The city of Eugene is trying two transitional housing strategies for the homeless, called “rest stops” and micro-housing.
These housing options in Eugene are serving as a model for possible ways Tucson could help its homeless, including a proposal for a rest stop called Bear Camp.
Eugene’s strategies
Eugene’s rest stops are legal campsites on city, county or private property where up to 20 people can live in tents or conestoga huts, which are small, round shelters often on top of a wooden platform.
The campsites must be approved by the city, which has authorized five rest stops so far, said Michael Kinnison, a program manager in Eugene’s Office of Human Rights and Neighborhood Involvement.
A rest stop manager — not the city — pays for trash service, portable toilets and fencing.
The second Eugene alternative-housing program, known as Opportunity Village, is a micro-housing unit with 35 small, wooden frame houses on city property.
While the homes do not have heating or plumbing, Opportunity Village has on-site showers, toilets and a place to do laundry, Kinnison said. There is also a tool shed, a yurt that serves as a resource room with a library and computers, and a kitchen area with a pantry that serves as a food-bank site, he said.
Another Eugene project in the works, called Emerald Village, will have plumbing and electricity.
Fimbres said some faith-based groups are concerned about providing micro-housing units without air conditioning due to the intense Arizona heat. But while certain ideas may not work well in some areas, they may work in others, he said.
Bringing the strategies to Tucson
Brianda Torres, an aide for Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, has researched the successful programs in Eugene and hopes Tucson can make them work here.
In many places, it is illegal to camp on private property or in your car, Torres said. The micro-houses and rest stops would give the city a way to provide legal places for people to sleep for the night or to live while transitioning to temporary housing.
Eugene prioritizes getting people into housing first, before helping them solve problems with substance abuse, Torres said. Though residents aren’t required to be drug- or alcohol-free prior to becoming a resident, there can’t be any drugs, alcohol or violence on-site, Torres added.
Many Tucson shelters and housing program require sobriety. People can often spend years waiting for housing, while some die before they can get in, Torres said, due to the fact that they can’t get into housing before solving their substance-abuse issues.
“We don’t want people dying because they’re homeless anymore,” Torres said.
The first priority is providing a legal pathway in zoning laws, she said. Part of Eugene’s success comes from the flexibility and legal allowances in zoning for aid organizations, Torres added.
“We thought this was really practical, because it gives an opportunity basically for the organizations and community to prove itself. And also it gives an opportunity to go back and say, ‘OK, are there problems with this model in this community? How can we change this?’” Torres told the working group members at a recent meeting.
Tucson could make it a goal to reduce barriers for homeless people to get housing and provide legal pathways for alternative shelter models, she said.
“We have to recognize the specifics of our community here and what will work for us — it’s not just a one fits all,” Torres said. “But it’s certainly exciting that we have some other cities that are maybe a similar size who have found ways to make it work, and how can we make it work for us, too.”
The Bear Camp proposal
Another Tucson group is proposing a “rest stop” in Tucson called Bear Camp.
The proposal for Bear Camp would include 16 campsites with facilities for bathing, cooking and laundry, in addition to storage lockers and Wi-Fi.
Bear Camp, according to Jim Hannan, the executive director of the Tucson Urban Camping Association, would provide affordable space and access to everyday necessities, such as a shower.
The idea for Bear Camp stemmed from a tent city in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he said.
Bear Camp would provide an easier transition for those who were living on the streets or in the river, according to Hannan, because for some, moving into a homeless shelter directly from the streets can be too drastic a change.
“Compared to sleeping at the park, sleeping in the river, I personally think it is a step up,” he said.
A location is not yet set.
Hannan said he would prefer Eugene’s micro-housing units for helping to solve the homeless problem in Tucson, but found that many of the zoning laws and restrictions were difficult to get past.
“I just kind of came to the realization that something like Bear Camp might actually be easier to start with in Tucson,” Hannan said.
The next step in moving Bear Camp forward would be city support for the concept, he said.
Fimbres said he sent the Bear Camp proposal to the Tucson city manager and city attorney for consideration.
“We need to look at it and vet it, and see what we can do with it, if it’s plausible,” Fimbres said.
“There’s going to be a whole bunch of ideas that we’re going to have to vet and make sure what’s good for the city of Tucson,” he said.
