Barriers for low income workers for transitional shelters

Low-income people face significant barriers when accessing FEMA’s transitional shelter assistance...​

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), after a disaster low income people face significant barriers “when accessing FEMA’s transitional shelter assistance.” Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) helps the most vulnerable individuals and families after a disaster.

...“DHAP is designed to help those low income households that face significant barriers accessing FEMA’s tran-sitional shelter assistance. Hotels participating in FEMA’s transitional shelter often charge daily “resort” fees, require security deposits, and require that displaced households have credit cards – all of which are barriers for low income households that have already depleted any savings that they may have had and that are often unbanked or under-banked. Some hotels have turned away displaced families with hotel vouchers. Without DHAP, displaced, low income families often have little choice but to move into uninhabitable or overcrowded homes, stay at shelters, or sleep in their cars or on the streets. There are numerous accounts of individuals that were unable to access FEMA’s transitional housing assistance that later needed emergency hospital care after returning to mold-infested homes. Families have set up “tent cities” because they had no place to go.” — NLIHC 
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Solutions
Tiny homes have been used for many years in camps for the homeless in parts of the U.S. — however, in an emergency, Tiny Homes cannot be set up as rapidly as needed.

The HHI House for the Homeless has many advantages for transitional & emergency shelters.

Community Compassion Outreach Program (CCOP) and Humanitarian House International, in collaboration with Fort Lewis College Engineering Department is seeking a viable solution. Read more.

Contact us for details of Fort Lewis College Engineering Design & Practice (Engr 315) Spring 2018.