Solving the housing grand challenge requires progress on the demand side for housing, including global and local economies as well as social welfare policies. It also requires progress on the supply side – including housing that is more cost efficient. Pallet Shelter understands that the challenge is for permanent housing, but also knows that decent, affordable and satisfying living environments cannot be built overnight. They are building personal, safe, and dignified shelters in a matter of hours (instead of the years it takes to build permanent structures) because people experiencing homelessness need a shelter option that is better than a sidewalk and faster than the permanent solutions still in process – and they need it now. Moving to permanent housing would then be the next step – an easier step from shelters than directly from homelessness. 

Pallet makes homeless and disaster response shelters. They're panelized for rapid deployment. Pallet shelters are meant to be temporary. They are a stepping stone for the more than half a million people facing homelessness across the United States as they transition out of homelessness and move towards permanent housing. They're not a substitute for permanent housing, but they kind of look like tiny homes. They're made of a non-organic material that is mold, mildew, and rot resistant. They go together in about 20 minutes with no tools required, and they last 10+ years. So they're really meant to be a cost-effective solution for cities and service providers to shelter people quickly and cost-effectively, and they are just a small sleeping cabin, basically a place for someone to stay and keep their things have an opportunity to stabilize as they transition out of homelessness.

NosTerra Ventures invested in Pallet Shelter and its visionary Founder/CEO, Amy King, to use her considerable entrepreneurial energy to be part of the solution for the grand challenge of solving for decent, affordable and satisfying living environments for all. Stay tuned for updates as Amy and team shake up the market for affordable housing in the USA.