Pallet is a social enterprise working to combat human displacement and give people a fair chance at employment. Pallet manufactures innovative, cost-effective, scalable, and reusable interim shelter solutions to serve a wide array of vulnerable populations affected by displacement: natural disaster survivors, first responders, migrant and refugee communities, relief workers, and people experiencing homelessness.
With over 125 sites across the United States and Canada in partnership with local and state governments, Pallet is the Leader in Rapid-Response Shelter Villages® that combine the dignity of personal space within a healing community environment. We create safe places grounded in stability and belonging for people to build their future. Pallet partners with over 70 unique service providers who provide on-site supportive services and run day-to-day operations of our temporary shelter villages.
Our Model
With a commitment to resilience and sustainability, Pallet’s rapid rehousing solutions incorporate eco-friendly designs and utilize durable, inorganic materials that withstand extreme heat, extreme cold, high winds, and other impacts of climate change - providing not just interim shelter, but long-term stability for affected communities. With assembly and disassembly of a shelter within one-hour, entire shelter villages can be built in a day. Pallet offerings not only support community planning, preparedness, and resilience but also facilitate real-time response and deployment during and immediately after emergencies.
Short-term rapid rehousing offers immediate shelter, meets basic needs, and provides a stable environment for those that are displaced, while fostering community and facilitating access to essential services that crucially contribute to rapid recovery and the eventual transition to permanent housing solutions. While permanent housing is the long-term goal, many people require an ecosystem of support and a safe, secure place to stay while taking their next steps in the housing continuum. Our private, dignified interim shelters, set within a community model, provide a stepping-stone toward rebuilding lives and equipping residents for their journey toward a place to call home.
Pallet’s PathForward Homelessness Advisory Services is a comprehensive program offering that helps counties and cities end homelessness by providing custom solutions addressing the root causes of each community’s unique challenges. Our services consider both long-term and short-term strategies and reflect our reintegration ecosystem – looking at effective policies, social services, housing supply, and funding sources – in tandem with exploring emergency solutions to address the homelessness crisis with urgency.
Pallet’s Fair Chance Employment Model
Pallet shelters are designed and built with purpose – a majority of Pallet employees have lived experience in homelessness, substance use recovery, and/or the justice system. The transferrable skills from people with lived experience are vital to Pallet’s success in designing and building restorative communities. As a U.S. based public benefit corporation and certified living wage employer, Pallet’s mission is to combat human displacement and provide marginalized populations with training and employment to grow the construction and manufacturing workforce. To learn more about Pallet, visit: www.palletshelter.com