In the city, homeless people congregate anywhere they can, including under bridges, on sidewalks, in overnight shelters, on benches at bus stops, and on friends’ couches. Additionally, Keith Taylor’s self-storage container was designed for objects rather than people.
According to the 42-year-old, he has been sleeping most nights in a 5-by-10-foot basement unit of an indoor self-storage facility in northwest Atlanta for the past two or three months. He claimed that he used part of the money he received from giving blood plasma up to twice a week to pay the rent. Being homeless for any significant amount of time demands resourcefulness.
The storage facility where he was staying offers climate-controlled apartments that are available on a month-to-month basis without requiring a credit card. Taylor reported there were no electrical outlets in his room. He would use a jug or a bag for a bathroom. He had a sleeping bag and blankets for a bed. To get past management, he had the roll-up door’s lock wired to appear engaged while he was inside.
During the day, he would not spend time in the unit. He added, “I have to be very quiet at night. I’m so glad I don’t snore. However, Taylor’s stay sleeping on a concrete floor behind the unit’s roll-up door is currently over.
He moved out of the area last week to take up much cozier quarters in a converted cargo container. He is one of the first people living in Atlanta’s brand-new downtown neighborhood, The Melody, which is a part of a larger, more ambitious initiative to house the homeless with more housing more quickly.
The Melody is located in a former parking lot next to the Garnett Street MARTA station in downtown and is primarily housed in metal shipping containers provided by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
The first 40 of the 500 planned quick housing units that the city aims to have in place in various areas by the end of 2025 are housed in the new compound, which is surrounded by a fence with a screen designed to seem like a hedge.
For the first year at least, tenants are not have to pay rent; after that, they will be required to contribute 30% of their income.
Cathryn Vassell, the CEO of Partners for Home, the city’s main agency in the initiative, says that all of the flats are taken, albeit some residents haven’t moved in yet. They must fit the federal criteria of chronically homeless, which includes living in an emergency shelter or in a facility not intended for human occupancy for a minimum of a year, as well as having a long-term incapacitating illness.
Prior to moving into the complex, the majority of the new residents were sleeping outside, according to an email sent by Vassell.
Nine of Kim Jackson’s parishioners who recently moved into The Melody had their homes blessed and sprinkling with holy water on Wednesday by the Episcopal priest. Jackson, a Stone Mountain native and state senator, is the pastor of a church in Atlanta that serves its homeless congregants.
She declared, “This is the largest number of people we have ever been able to house in the shortest amount of time.”
Even the most fundamental things are incredibly important. Jackson remembered the excited members yelling at her. I have a key, Pastor Kim, Pastor Kim, look at me!
According to her, some struggle with mental health concerns, addiction, or intellectual impairments. At least one had a crippling stroke and struggled to get back on his feet financially.
She added that previously, they had lived wherever they could. shelters. On concrete outside, which would hurt their bodies. Some people used their imaginations.
“I have a friend who slept in a tree.” She said he lived in a tent in a forest not far from the state building, perched on a platform in a tree where nobody would likely look up.
When Taylor was homeless, Tracy Woodard, who provides homeless services at the group Intown Cares, spotted him at the storage facility. She also knows of another person who sought refuge in a storage unit. Taylor was getting ready to donate blood plasma at a nearby donation site in exchange for cash when a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution happened to be there.
“Living in a self storage unit is actually against the law and breaks every lease that I know of,” stated Timothy Dietz, the chief executive of the Self Storage Association, a national trade association for the industry, in an email. Although it happens occasionally, I wouldn’t describe it as common.
Taylor advised taking baths, going to a homeless shelter occasionally, and signing up for free trial visits at nearby fitness centers. “I’m a neat freak,”
He claimed that because he was raised in a military home, discipline was expected. However, he acknowledged that he had experienced trauma as a youngster and recited a number of mental health diagnoses that had been placed on him, including intermittent explosive disorder (which can include uncontrollably angry outbursts), bipolar illness, ADHD, and depression.
Taylor claimed to have served ten years in prison, been homeless, and been on probation for the majority of his adult life. He claimed to have been in multiple incidents, one of which included a scooter, and to be in agony frequently.
However, he added that in addition to his bachelor’s degree in fine arts, he has experience working as a media production engineer and plans to pursue doctoral studies.
He was concerned about his safety as a homeless person. He would insert a screwdriver into the door’s handrail at night in the self-storage unit to make a makeshift lock.
He’d been booted out of two previous storage facilities he had visited before. “My entire life, I have never owned a property in my own name,” he declared. Now he does.
Unlike when he sleeps on the streets, he can go to sleep at The Melody knowing that his belongings won’t be taken. His apartment is as compact as a shipping container, featuring a microwave, a small refrigerator/freezer, a TV, small cabinets for his personal items, a large window, and a private bathroom.
He remarked, “I can’t argue with free, but this place is so freaking small.”
