KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – It’s been a mild fall weather-wise but that ended this weekend with long range forecasts calling for a colder snowier winter.
Kalamazoo County area housing officials have been working to find a location to erect 50 pods for the homeless. They were purchased and delivered earlier this year, but they haven’t found a place to put them.
The pods are small enclosures that can protect people from the worst of the weather, but they need a fenced secure area parcel.
County Housing Director Mary Balkema says finding a location that could accommodate bathroom and perhaps kitchen facilities has been difficult, especially in the city, because it’s so built up.
She says installing them away from the city presents its own problems, because the homeless rely on other social service agencies for help, food, and daytime shelter.
The pods are essentially two beds in a big box with lighting, electricity, heat, air conditioning, and a bike rack.
Their initial plans for a location fell through and they haven’t been able to find another one.
The City of Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo County are working with Housing Resources Incorporated, which purchased the pods, to find a location for them as soon as possible.
Balkema says the dis-assembled pods are currently being stored in a building at an undisclosed location.
(reporting from John McNeill)
