Tiny shelters from scrap, dignity from design.
PalletShelter Commons is an open project where people with lived experience of homelessness share simple, safer micro-shelter designs, survival knowledge, and pathways into legal tiny-home and micro-community projects. No hype. No saviors. Just tools you can actually use.
⚠ Not legal advice — always check local codes and work with trusted organizations.
How this helps on day one
The short-term play is survival: staying drier, warmer, and safer with simple, movable shelters that do not pretend to be full houses. Each guide is written for people who may only have hand tools, a backpack, and a few hours of light.
- Bill-of-materials checklists you can screenshot and carry.
- Step-by-step sequences tuned for pallets and scrap lumber.
- Design choices that assume you might have to move on short notice.
How this becomes a way out
The long-term play is leverage: turn your builds and lived experience into a portfolio you can bring to Habitat, churches, micro-community pilots, and small contractors. You are not "just" surviving — you are prototyping low-cost shelter solutions.
- Downloadable build logs you can adapt and bring to meetings.
- Suggested language for emails, grant pitches, and partnership decks.
- Examples of how to describe your skills without hiding your story.