LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The city of Lansing is moving forward on their plans to use the mobile housing pods purchased from Kalamazoo’s nonprofit Housing Resources Incorporated.
The 50 pods were purchased by HRI in 2021 for $1 million with plans to turn them into housing for the homeless in the area.
They were auctioned off this summer and the city of Lansing purchased them for $600,000.
Lansing’s Human Relations and Community Services Director Kim Coleman says it’s not a one size fits all solution, but she thinks the pods will be useful in Michigan’s capital city.
Kalamazoo County is still working on solutions to homelessness in the area. Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care director Patrese Griffin says there are not enough resources and adds the state and federal resources are “very prescriptive and restrictive.” Griffin says they need more philanthropic dollars to allow them creativity to institute solutions that will work.
There are some affordable housing projects in the works in Kalamazoo County, with a new shelter expected to open in December at the former Country Inn and Suites Hotel on East Kilgore Service Road in Portage.
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