Container housing village in Glendale works to get families back on their feet
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The first of its kind container housing village meant to house extremely low-income families inside the city of Glendale is nearly complete.
The nonprofit, Family Promise of Greater Phoenix, used private donations and teamed up with a local church to create the idea.
Six brand-new shipping containers will be transformed into 640-square-foot two-bedroom apartments. Some of Glendale’s poorest families can live in them temporarily while they save money to get into permanent housing.
This concept could be a revolutionary new way to tackle the affordable housing crisis.
Construction workers are putting the final touches on the Family Promise Legacy Village. It’s a first of its kind project that started two years ago and will be completed by the end of the year.
"We are in the highest eviction zip code in the state of Arizona. 85301 in Glendale," said Ted Taylor, CEO of Family Promise. "We chose that zip code because we want to prove it’s going to work there."
Family Promise operates five shelters, partnering with churches and synagogues. This is their first using six cost-effective shipping containers placed on the lot of First Christian Church.
The containers, ordered from China, are transformed into fully furnished small apartments, with laundry, a playground and a staff office on site.
"The waiting list, right now for families here in the Valley, is over 360 families. 360 families. This is crazy. I have never seen a number this high," Taylor said.
Taylor says the goal is to help the working poor families facing extreme poverty, whose wages barely cover rent. The majority are single mothers.
Many of these families have never been in a homeless shelter, but were forced out on the streets after an unplanned hit to their paychecks.
This lack of financial flexibility is partly what’s behind the surging eviction numbers in Maricopa County with more than 7,600 evictions filed in October alone, one of the all time monthly highest.
Nine families can fit inside the village.
They have to be employed and undergo financial literacy education, with staff members ensuring these families are saving the money needed to graduate into permanent, sustainable housing.
"By teaching people how to manage cash in the future, we teach them how to manage life," Taylor said. "That’s how we keep these families out of trouble. They’re constantly looking forward to make sure we solve problems, before we get to now."
Once families find affordable housing, the next family is able to come in.
This is a process that has an 86% success rate at Family Promise’s Belleview location.
The culture of these shelters is a safe, family-friendly environment, which is why churches across the Valley are signing up to offer their land.
The next container village is set to be built in Tempe.
For now, pets are not allowed to live inside these homes.
If you want to contribute to this new way of fighting homelessness, they could use the funding. Click here to learn more and/or donate.