Leaving a tent and entering an intentional cabin community.7. Intentional Communities for Unhoused PeopleWe demand intentional communities for unhoused people. Across the country there are self-made tent encampments housing people who are unable to access permanent housing and do not feel welcome or safe in the government shelter system. To support these unhoused people, we demand that cities use underutilized land to fund and build intentional communities where residents receive services, share community responsibilities, and regain the agency to govern space and their own lives.The team investigated the gap in the provision of housing for those in the transitional housing spectrum, adding support for unhoused individuals between living on the street and long-term housing.Across c\a\n\a\d\a, there has been a rapid expansion of tent encampments planned and built by homeless people, who either cannot access shelters, or refuse to subject themselves to the physical danger, psychological insecurity, and lack of community within them. Cities like Toronto and Vancouver have spent millions of dollars violently evicting people from these encampments, and criminalizing those who have supported them, yet people continue to camp out. People spend countless hours finding and helping others find appropriate sites for encampment; accessing basic water and sanitation; retaining access to existing physical and mental health services; erecting all manner of pole-and-tented lodgings; re-inventing beds; feeding themselves; and staying warm. Through these actions, they demonstrate the ability to house themselvesif and when the opportunity presents itself. This strength, resilience, and ingenuity sometimes occurs in more organized forms. In Kitchener, Ontario, for example, a generous landowner, a group of concerned activists, and an existing community of unhoused people created A Better Tent City, a village of 50 people living in tiny houses and sharing common facilities. During the covid-19 pandemic, another group, Toronto Tiny Shelters, produced over a hundred fully insulated dwellings the size of tents for encampments. These precedents point to the importance of working with unhoused people to build strong social communities, not just solid housing. We demand that municipalities across c\a\n\a\d\a learn from these precedents and enact specific policies that use underutilized land to fund and build intentional communities where residents receive services, share community responsibilities, and regain the agency to govern space and their own lives.The proposal would introduce a new addition to the housing spectrum in the form of a cabin community.We demand that the City of Toronto lead the way by developing model intentional communities. Following consultation with unhoused Torontonians, we demand the construction of a series of prototypical intentional communities that incorporate approximately 25 cabins, plus shared community facilities and basic services, on parking lots or other land already allocated by the city for future affordable housing. We have designed a basic 8x12 cabin for individuals as well as a combo cabin for couples or roommates. These housing structures are complimented by three types of communal prototypes: An incubator cabin for micro-commerce, a washroom and hygiene pavilion, and kitchen and health pavilion.The basic unit for the cabin community is a small one person cabin with attachable additional modules.These prototype cabin communities build on the unrelenting energy that unhoused people and underhoused families have shown in erecting self-determined, self-governed housing communities, and will serve as transitional housing until the residents are ready to move into new, long-term housing.Cabins can be joined together to accommodate a variety of living situations such as roommates and couples.Our goal is to provide a suitable and more secure alternative to living in a tent, when the municipal shelter system is not an option. To achieve this vision, we are working with encampment residents, city council members, and community organizations to create a supportive coalition, to amend zoning bylaws, and build trust between intentional community providers and prospective residents.Food and health services are provided on site through a specialized pavilion.Washrooms and hygiene services are an essential part of the health of the cabin community and as such they are given ample space.A small structure called an Incubator Unit operates on site as a center for community services and a point of contact for opportunities.Within the cabin community, architectural and organization structures are integrated to facilitate communication and collective decision making amongst residents.Typical shelter governance structures are organized strictly top down, and struggle to include those receiving services in their decision-making process. The team proposes an Intentional Community Model managed by a non-profit agency and centers the community as a key stakeholder in decision making.Intentional Communities for Unhoused People Contributors:Region: TorontoActivist: Jeff Willmer, A Better Tent City Waterloo RegionAdvocate: Larry Chookang, Robert Raynor, Khaleel Sievwright, Toronto Tiny Shelters, Two Steps Home Architect: John van Nostrand, SvN Architects + Planners, Two Steps HomeThe post Architects Against Housing Alienation Not for Sale!: 7. Intentional Communities for Unhoused People appeared first on Canadian Architect.