Nonprofit wants to build shelter with indoor tiny homes in St. Cloud
A nonprofit that operates an indoor homeless shelter with tiny houses in Minneapolis wants to build a similar facility in St. Cloud.
Avivo Village is an indoor community with 100 small, individual units in Minneapolis’ North Loop, which has been operating since 2020. Adult residents stay for an average of four and a half months and get help finding permanent housing and employment.
The St. Cloud shelter would have 56 units with services to help people address economic insecurity, mental health, substance use disorders or other challenges.
“It would be very similar, where it’s a comprehensive service model — wraparound services — to support people when they move inside to help them keep taking those next best steps,” said Kelly Matter, Avivo’s president and CEO.
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The Minneapolis village works, Matter said, because it’s a low-barrier shelter with few restrictions for tenants, where people have privacy and security, and can keep their pets.
“It’s a dignified, respectful solution that gets outcomes,” she said. “Those outcomes are permanent housing, connection to training and connection to employment.”
The St. Cloud City Council will hold a public hearing on March 25 to consider whether to lease one acre of city-owned land, on St. Cloud’s west side near Costco, to Avivo to build the shelter.
Avivo has received a $6 million state grant for the shelter. At Monday’s meeting, the council approved a plan to allocate $232,000 in unused federal community development funds for the project.
Council member George Hontos was the lone opposing vote, saying he doesn’t think the council shouldn’t voice support for a project before a public hearing.
Like other cities, St. Cloud has been struggling to deal with a growing homelessness problem, exacerbated by mental health and addiction issues. The city’s unsheltered population has nearly doubled in the last five years.
A low-barrier shelter on St. Cloud’s East Side has been a source of complaints from neighboring residents and businesses about drug activity, loitering and other issues.
Matter said she understands that some in St. Cloud might be fearful of the idea of a new shelter, but she noted that Avivo has operated in St. Cloud since 1989, providing career education and employment services.
The St. Cloud facility would have 24/7 staffing and be monitored with security cameras, Matter said.
In Minneapolis, the nonprofit has a good neighbor agreement that addresses any neighborhood concerns, she said. It’s also partnered with the neighborhood on litter clean-ups and a theater production.
“There’s lots of really positive ways to engage with neighbors,” Matter said. “But people are fearful of the unknown, and it’s hard for them to trust that it’s going to be a different experience.”