City officials to launch Rapid Shelter Columbia.

PositionSouth Carolina

The City of Columbia on Tuesday unveiled a new concept for providing services to chronically unsheltered people in the city.

City officials announced the construction of a transitional housing project that will be built on city property at 194 Calhoun St., the location of the former Inclement Weather Center.

The site will now be known as Rapid Shelter Columbia and include 50 sleeping cabins, each designed to accommodate one person, with 40 for men and 10 for women. The congregate sleeping quarters that already exist at the Calhoun Street site will continue to be used to accommodate overflow population during inclement weather.

Construction for the project will be managed by the city and should begin later this month. The goal is to have the 50 sleeping cabins completed and ready for use by November.

Pallet, the company that manufactures the sleeping cabins, is based in Everett, Wash., with several staff members who have experienced homelessness in the past. Pallet sleeping cabin projects have been built successfully in places such as Boston and Sonoma County, Calif.

Once completed, Rapid Shelter Columbia will be open year-round, include 24-hour security, on-site case management services and food services.

City officials also announced they will be hiring a new coordinator of homeless services for the city who will work with various programs and services for the homeless population.

Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and other city officials said the need to find solutions for the homeless crisis has become more urgent in recent months, as the number of chronically unsheltered people in the area has continued to rise. He said the increase has resulted in a corresponding increase in calls to law enforcement and other officials about crime, public urination and defecation, panhandling and other issues.

There also has been a rise in the number of homeless people needing help with mental health issues and other services, he said.

"It's estimated that we have at least 250 chronically unsheltered people right now in the city, and we want to help them have a place to lay their head," Rickenmann said. "This is only a step, and not something that will solve all of our problems. Until today, we have not had any options for chronically unsheltered people in Columbia, and now we will."

Columbia is the first city in the Southeast to launch a temporary housing project like this, Rickenmann said.

The Rapid Shelter will not only be a benefit for its clients...

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