Animal protection authorities often confiscate the pets of homeless people or grill homeless people for proof of animal ownership they may not have. But a new study reveals that homeless people with pets are drastically less likely to get depressed or engage in risky behaviors than those without animal friends. Here’s why homeless people need their pets. 

How We’re Bringing Showers to the Homeless
- DonieceS wrote in San Francisco, Homelessness and Service

One day two years ago, I happened to pass a young woman sitting on the street. She was crying and saying over and over to herself that she’d never be clean. I live in San Francisco, where it’s impossible to be unaware of the homeless. For years, I’d wanted to do more than volunteer or donate to an organization. But it wasn’t until that day that I took action, inspired by the words of the young woman.

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Thoroughly Modern Carriage House: Pop-Up Homes (and Jobs) for Homeless Londoners
- by Adele Peters

How can a city add affordable apartments to a neighborhood with no room for new buildings? London architects Levitt Bernstein recently won a Building Trust competition with their new solution: pop-up modular homes inside unused parking garages. 

In Hackney, a low-income neighborhood in northeast London, it’s less and less common for residents to own cars. Public transportation has improved in the city, and cars are expensive. Rows of garages sit empty, making the streets look lifeless and encouraging crime. 

The design calls for pre-fab units that slip easily into unused garages and become temporary homes for homeless Londoners. The simple construction of the homes will become part of an apprenticeship program, giving some residents the unique opportunity to help build their own homes. 

The design includes a bedroom and bathroom, with communal kitchens, dining, and laundry in every fifth space. By using passive building techniques, no heating or cooling is needed. 

The homes are also designed to be temporary, because the neighborhood is changing and the garages may be removed for new buildings in a few years. Thanks to their modular design, the homes can easily be removed from the garages and reinstalled somewhere else.

Levitt Bernstein’s next steps will be working with local planning commissions and partnering NGOs to make the project real. In the meantime, a similar project is taking shape in Australia, where Mulloway Studios is transforming underused parking lots in Adelaide to homes for at-risk youth. Mulloway won an honorable mention in the Building Trust competition. 

Images 1 and 3 via Levitt Bernstein; Image 2 (cc) flickr user M&G