KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Housing Resources Inc. announced that their project designed to create housing for the unhoused will no longer happen.
"Being a homeless person in Kalamazoo is kind of rough," Merlyn Shattuck told FOX 17.
As someone experiencing homelessness, he was looking forward to A Place of Dignity, also known as the pod community that was coming to Kalamazoo. The community would have consisted of 50 tiny homes designed to give people experiencing homelessness a bed, electricity and storage while they look for permanent housing.
"It seems like everything that they try to do nice for the community or for the homeless people goes awry. It just ends up going some way wrong," he said.
Shattuck wasn't the only one disappointed — this was the last thing Housing Resources Inc.'s executive director wanted to do.
"I think the most heartbreaking thing, as now the weather begins to turn cold, is there's just another winter upon us to ask what happens for people who are still out there," Michelle Davis told FOX 17.
The organization purchased the pods for $1 million in 2021. Their arrival was pushed back multiple times due to issues with securing a location and ultimately funding.
"It's been over two years that we've been on this journey to really bring a solution to our unsheltered population," she told FOX 17.
The pod community was supposed to be placed on 2015 Lake Street, just west of the I-94 business loop.
In April, Davis told FOX 17 they needed to raise $1.65 million by June 30 and $5 million by the end of the year.
"We have just reached a point where after two and a half years, um, we have not been able to raise the amount of funds we need to raise to bring the project to fruition," she said.
Davis hopes the pods can still be used in the community. "We've already talked with some people who have ideas and connections that can help us connect around alternative uses for the pods."
While the project may be coming to an end before it even started, the work to fight homelessness will continue.
"This was never meant to be the solution for everybody. It was a part of a solution and we still need to keep moving forward," Davis said.
There are plenty of other communities that could use the pods, if they can't find use for them in Kalamazoo.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
