The Safe Spot Communities (SSC) are legal, designated places for people who are without a conventional form of housing. CSS currently provides oversight to three SSCs, each focusing on a different demographic of the houseless population (people with disabilities, a site for veterans, and another site for a mixed population).

CSS has worked in collaboration with the people in the Safe Spots and local city government to create a Governance Handbook that serves as the guiding document for SSC users. While the SSC is a socially complex endeavor, we strive to keep the program downsized to some fundamental operating guidelines.  Here are a few basic rules of SSCs:

  • No drugs and alcohol used onsite
  • Violence or threats of violence are not tolerated
  • Participants must attend monthly meetings, work parties, and personal check-ins with CSS Action Plan Advisers
  • Every participant holds a volunteer task or role within the SSC
  • General time limit of 10-months for participants
  • Participants (except for gate-keeper volunteers) are required to leave the site from 10am to 4pm Mon thru Fri

The same principle of keeping things basic is also true of the infrastructure we have implemented to serve program participants.

The basics Included in the SSC infrastructure:

  • Secure fence with a vehicle gate and pedestrian gate
  • Conestoga Huts or raised tent platforms with durable covers
  • Common space with wood-fired heat and solar charging station for small devices
  • Common kitchen with a propane cookstove, running water, counter space, and food storage
  • A place for gate-keeper volunteers
  • Porta-potties and garbage receptacles
  • Raised pathways
  • Garden beds