Homeless Living In Storage Units

Published March 28, 2009 @ 08:17PM PT

What comes with a lock, shelter from the elements, a low monthly rent, and enough space for personal belongings?

A rental storage unit, of course.

With record numbers of Americans out of work and unable to afford housing, people must be resourceful to keep a roof over their head. Of course, a storage unit is not ideal. But it beats the dangers of the street, the rules of shelters, and the stigma of tent cities for people who are newly homeless.

This is not a new phenomena. The Washington Post published a story several years ago that highlighted this issue in Maryland:

"Sometimes they can fix them up really nice," said Lawrence, who works at Economy Storage in Waldorf. They might add insulation, carpet on the floor, a bed, a rack for their clothes, a television, a hot plate, maybe even a little grill out back. "It's just like a little efficiency, but without running water."

But as the economy has worsened, so has the incidence of people living in storage units, reported KHON in Hawaii. See the report below.

Could we be on to something here? Might storage units-turned-SROs be the answer to tent cities and overcrowded shelters?

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Comments (17)

I used to work for a storage company in Tampa, and I wondered if people slept in their units. An 8 x 10 unit rented for $55.00 per month...why not..10 x 10's were $68.00..I read an article from New Castle, Pennsylvania about nuisance box-cars parked all over the city..my thoughts were, why couldn't these abandon box-cars be used for temporary housing for the homeless. How big is a box-car? Pretty big!!! With a little creativity, this could be a nice living space for homeless families..it sure beats the shelters & tent cities!! You could always go to the nearest gas station for bathroom needs..just an idea!!!!!

Posted by leatrice brantley on 03/29/2009 @ 07:41AM PT
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Box cars inside lenghth vary from approximately 50 to 60 feet, the standard inside width is 9.5 feet. The differences in capacity are due to the height.

As for the storage units, it should be possible to run plumbing strips with soil pipes (simple sinks, toilets and rudimentary showers--it's done in granny shacks). Of course this would increase the price of the unit (still nothing like today's studio apartment rentals), and would cost you a little interior space.

Posted by C W on 03/29/2009 @ 08:10AM PT
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Great ideas! Box cars, storage units...these are for temporary housing to get the homeless onto the next stage, like finding work or permanent housing. In fact, there is little difference between this post and the post on Japan, except the Internet cafe owner maintains a code of conduct, etc.

The same can be said for the storage unit owners and managers.

I still like the idea of using the Private-Public Plan to buy up foreclosed properties and rent them to homeless veterans and families. Perhaps the two ideas can work in sequence. First get those in need a roof for the night/week/month. Then whenever possible, have them locate into these un-foreclosed housing units.

Zoning will still be an issue, so municipalities will have to cooperate.

Posted by Andrew Chow on 03/29/2009 @ 10:14AM PT
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Yes, zoning and building codes would be BIG issues. Sometimes these codes run way behind technological capability (such as with pipes).

It will take several types of housing, including the use of foreclosures, to solve the problem. Once people are in a place where they can keep their (limited) stuff, their kids and their pets safely, they can concentrate on other problems.

Posted by C W on 03/29/2009 @ 10:40AM PT
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The storage units cannot be a permanant nor even long term residence for people. They can be a temporary shelter for single people looking for work, as in the blog on Japan's Internet cafe. They can be an emergency shelter for families with teenagers who cannot find shelter anywhere else. And as you said, they can also function as long term storage, while people live in transitional housing such as foreclosed homes purchased by non-profits for the purpose of housing those in need until they find permanent housing.

Zoning and building codes are the only major issue which require someone with professional expertise from the building trades. With the downturn in construction, I hope there are enough people with enough time and heart to volunteer the work necessary to convert these units into livable spaces, which meet new legislated codes for this special need.
Should we start an action or fund-raising page?

Posted by Andrew Chow on 03/29/2009 @ 12:00PM PT
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My daughter rented a storage unit for a short time to store her belongings when she moved back home. From what I remember, the place was locked at night and all the renters had to be out of their units. I am not aware of any storage unit area in Albuquerque, NM where living in such a unit would be possible. Guess some places have very lax zoning codes. This sounds like something like the old project system in Chicago, IL where Obama did his community organizing. Don't know what the solution to this problem will be but we have to be ready to work and sacrifice for the solution. As the supposed richest country in the world, we should be ashamed of the plight of the homeless, especially for families that have lost their homes. Recession, depression, global mess, whatever you call it, let's fix it!!!!!! If we could only get this message to the congress and the senate. Bug your representatives folks. We sent them to DC to represent ALL of us!!!

Posted by Doris Vician on 03/29/2009 @ 01:45PM PT
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Whatever solutions for homeless would be temorary until they achieve independence. Shelter, tiny house, storage units, whatever. The fundamental problems that caused homelessness will still be there unless they are addressed directly.

A roof, a place to sleep, an address, these are external manifestation of the ability of a person to make decisions, hold a job, plan for the future. Finding a place for the person is just the first step. If there are no follow-through with the other necessary changes, i.e. addiction, chronic health problems, etc, the person will slip back into homelessness.

These temporary shelters are necessary, but insufficient as the means to end homelessness. Building an strong economy with continuous job retraining for workers to earn highest wages possible is the only sustainable long term solution for homelessness. The road is long but President Obama has led the first steps ahead. Whether Congress will follow remains to be seen.

Posted by Andrew Chow on 03/29/2009 @ 07:22PM PT
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Pay decent wages to our workers and homelessness will end.

Yes homelessness may be complex but then a game of chess IS complex we still play it. People should not have to choose to sleep in Storage units, or hallways. Workers, the disabled and welfare families should all be paid the costs of living. Workers should get a little for entertainment. This is an idea as of yet untried, what do you think of it?

I recall the HUD defining "not having your own pillow or bed to lay down on at night as being homeless." It also said to be sleeping in places not meant for habitation, as cars, sheds, is being homeless. I was surprised by the poetic tone.

Guess what if you store your bed in a storage locker and sleep there you are still homeless.

Yes, I did have a mother who was kicked out of a storage locker call our homeless hotline. They snuck into unit. That was better than sleeping in someones backyard without a tent.

Codes have little to do with homelessness. And if the US put up storage sheds as temporary housing-it would some become permanent.

Let us join our voices together not for band-aid which might or might not cover the wounds. Lets treat the homeless like sisters and brothers for which we care. Lets pay them a wage which covers the bills.

Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 03/29/2009 @ 02:49PM PT
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But what happens when the economy is souring, and people are being laid off? The problem is complex, sure, but there are many pieces to the problem. By targeting one piece you forget the other pieces.

Posted by kristi neversaynever on 04/30/2009 @ 07:49AM PT
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These storage lockers would not be permanant alternative to a home, Jan. These would be temporary emergency shelters for families with teenagers, or people with pets, etc, who would not fit into the more traditional homeless shelters. These units simply provide a fixed address, a place to regroup, before the newly unemployed, or those still working but were foreclosed, can find a permanent home.

Posted by Andrew Chow on 05/01/2009 @ 09:18AM PT
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i moved from az with my exgirlfriend but we cant get along and she has screwwed me by taking my settlement money for rent and after i am down to nothing then kick me out knowing i have no resources or options. please contact me by email or by phone 814-476-3035 i currently have a job it at mcdonald but i hope it is enough for me to afford storage and possibly a place to sleep i may join a program but they wont let me keep my bowflex that just cost me $2000 for it and i need a place to keep it. i have been homeless before and often had to get rid of my stuff and have never had anything of my own. i also used to do drugs that was bad to my health and i am now 6 months sober and it has helped me get back on track. please contact me. thx.

Posted by kyle robinson on 05/02/2009 @ 04:53PM PT
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Kyle, from your phone number, I searched google for homeless shelters and there are a couple in your area. http://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enCA291CA303&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=homeless+shelters,+mckean,+penn

With a job, it's just a matter of time before you find your own place. I don't know your situation, but is it possible for you to store your stuff temporarily in a storage locker and stay overnight at say, St. James Haven until you are back on your feet. http://www.ssjerie.org/stjames_haven.htm

I hope you find someone nearby who can help. Also, have you talked to your coworkers and manager? McDonalds may have programs to help employees in distress. Please reach out to as many people as you can, but NOT your ex-girl friend. I am sure there is someone in McKean county who can help you.

I cannot emphasize enough that you must stay away from your ex-girl friend, and drugs. Congratulations on your six-month sobriety! That's considerable achievement, especially if you did it on your own without sponsors or support. That's really awesome!

Posted by Andrew Chow on 05/03/2009 @ 04:58PM PT
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Not a bad idea I must say.
Looks like Michael Moore was onto something when he suggested this in his TV series "The Awful Truth".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111458/

Posted by Dave Smartt on 05/04/2009 @ 12:38AM PT
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Actually, people have been surviving in storage units at least since the Reagan administration. It's no longer so unusual to encounter people who live in their cars. In rural areas, people find shelter in abandoned barns and sheds, and more people are camping out in woods. It can be pretty challenging to find work if you don't have an address or a telephone. It's a new era, you know, and the loss of a job can mean the loss of everything -- your home, your family, and any chance you had of living a normal, productive life.

Posted by DH Fabian on 05/20/2009 @ 08:39AM PT
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Being currently homeless now for a year, it would be terrific
if I could have found a Climate control Storage unit near my
Doctor and Mental health care provider. But I do and have been paying rent while homeless for a climate controlled Storage unit at what is now a 50 mile round trip. Fairfax County has General relief which advances you funds against your potentially future SSI/SSDI whichever you may qualify for. So since Iam homeless they advance me $74.00 per month., figuring that I dont pay "rent" then i dont need as much as those that do...$220. per month. While at a homeless shelter my cost to the county was at least $1150
per month in a 50 person dormitory with am/pm meals and case management. Thats the Housing Ready process, not the Housing First . Those Storage places have on site managers who live there too. So ? Sanitation and fire rank in there with freezing or heating to death concerns. I was thinking I might ask someone if a parking spot or two could be mine and then rent a Portable storage container, an 8 x 6.
Then everyone would think we are just in the process of moving and between homes!!!!!

Posted by Keith Bender on 06/12/2009 @ 02:51PM PT
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PS: ...oops, forgot to mention that Logic is wonderful but emotions are what rule in things like Not In My Back Yard NIMBYISM. There is a direct correlation between our Human Rights attitudes towards ourselves being mirrored in the abuse we allow others to endure and this symptom of "AFFORDABLE HOUSING SYNDROME" called Homelessness.

Posted by Keith Bender on 06/12/2009 @ 03:05PM PT
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There's a reason that the cited story is "several years old" -- because, since then, increasingly the storage industry has been taking specific measures to prevent anyone from even being able to lodge within such units.

Hech, with more and more places passing special laws designed to progressively disallow sleeping... well, most anywhere. Much less safe, private lodging indoors.

Personally, just before I was forced into this homeless predicament, once I saw the inevitability, I rented a typical storage unit. It's accessed from inside the building, which has a security passcoded door to the outside (and which disallows entry after 7pm) and has video cameras monitoring the hallways. So it's impossible to use the unit at night without being locked out or caught. Heck, I tried to grab a short nap in my unit one afternoon and got scolded for that! Staff is very aware that any number of their "renters" would relish that type of use of the paid-for spaces.

As it is, for over a year now, I've been paying a coupla' hundred bucks monthly so that my belongings can remain in such private, secure, climate controlled space.... while I sleep outdoors. If I don't get caught and punished for that.

Posted by SlumJack Homeless on 07/24/2009 @ 09:46PM PT
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Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.