Pensacola is poised to take another step in its homelessness response by approving leases for 28 "pallet" shelters—small, prefabricated cabins designed for short-term stays.
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The City Council will consider a bundle of measures at its agenda conference on Sept. 8 and at its regular meeting on Sept. 11 that would finalize use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds previously set aside for the purchase of the units and authorize two nonprofits to run them under no-rent leases.
The shelters are compact cabins that can be assembled quickly. They are insulated and include electricity and air conditioning. The goal is to provide a secure, private place to sleep while residents work with case managers on health care, employment, and housing applications. A separate hygiene unit at one site will offer shared bathrooms and showers.
The two operators are ReEntry Alliance Pensacola, known as REAP, and Offentsive Corp, a newer nonprofit. They were the only two groups to respond when the city sought partners earlier this year. REAP would oversee 14 sleeping cabins at 1551 W. Blount St. Offentsive would manage 13 sleeping cabins and one hygiene unit at 4100 N. Palafox St. The city will remain the owner of the cabins, while the nonprofits will be responsible for day-to-day operations, site preparation, and support services.
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Mayor D.C. Reeves emphasized that preparing the sites is more complicated than simply dropping the cabins into place and noted that the nonprofits had secured additional funding to cover these costs.
“These things have air conditioning, they have power, they have utility needs, so it’s not a matter of just building something and putting it on the grass,” he said. “There’s some other site work that has to get done, and so we appreciate them going and getting some of that extra skin in the game to make sure that these units happen.”
If approved, the city would enter no-rent leases with the two nonprofits and grant the mayor authority to execute and administer the agreements. The city’s role is to purchase and deliver the cabins using ARPA dollars already dedicated to homelessness response. The nonprofits must complete site work and utility connections, obtain permits, carry insurance, pay ongoing utilities and upkeep, and offer services such as case management and housing navigation.
REAP, founded in 2008, provides transitional housing and reentry services for people exiting prison or facing homelessness. The group also operated the Max-Well Respite Center until earlier this year, when financial pressures forced its closure and removed dozens of beds from the local system. Offentsive Corp, created in 2021, grew out of grassroots overdose-prevention work and now runs a program called Camp O2, which will host the pallet shelters. That initiative is designed to provide a safe space for unsheltered women, with peer-led oversight and access to hygiene facilities.
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Similar projects have taken root elsewhere. In Portland, Oregon, researchers at Portland State University examined “alternative shelters,” including villages of pallet-style pods, in a March 2024 evaluation commissioned by Multnomah County. They found the pods cost less than many competing models, and residents reported higher satisfaction with privacy and safety compared to traditional mass shelters.
A peer-reviewed study in Cambridge, England, tracked residents of a six-unit modular housing pilot that opened in 2021. Researchers followed participants for a year and documented improvements in health, financial stability, and employment readiness, as well as stronger social connections. The findings, published in 2023 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, concluded that small-scale, well-supported modular homes can offer “a practical, affordable and highly replicable” tool for addressing homelessness.
Advocates and researchers caution, though, that pallet shelters and similar cabins are not a solution on their own. Success depends on case management, social services, and the availability of permanent housing once residents are ready to move on.
The Pensacola initiative arrives as residents highlight homelessness and housing costs as their top concerns. In the city’s 2024 resident satisfaction survey, reducing homelessness was ranked the number one priority by 21% of respondents, followed by housing affordability at 18%. According to the city’s 2025–29 housing plan, about 47% of renter households in Pensacola pay more than 30% of their income on housing.
