CLEVELAND — Luther Metropolitan Minister Men’s Shelter is working on coming up with solutions that will help curb the homelessness crisis in Cleveland. After 7 years of research, the organization chose affordable 3D housing. It would be the first of its kind in Cleveland.
The 3D printer uses a converted blueprint or CAD drawing to create a physical structure. The structure is built layer by layer using concrete to form walls, floors and designs.
“We're more interested in affordable housing, beautiful smaller units and we could potentially be the property owner that would rent to individuals. We want to target people coming out of homelessness. Also, we're thinking it could be a path to homeownership,” said vice president of LMM Michael Sering.
Some city council members believe this could be a solution to ending homelessness in Cleveland. Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones introduced legislation earlier this month. If approved by the council, Cleveland would give up to $1 million to Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry. The money would go to the space and technology needed for 3D-printed low-income housing.
“It has some amazing benefits. The record for building a structure at least is 24 hours. There are various cost estimates, we're thinking it might be about a quarter reduction in expenses to build a house,” said Sering.
Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg has had 3D housing since 2021. CEO Janet V. Green said the technology reduced standard construction by 4 weeks.
“It shows that we can save about 15% per square foot in saving and building costs using 3D technologies. There are really a lot of advantages to 3D printing. There are longer term savings because it retains temperature, saving on heating and cooling costs, concrete is more resistant to tornado and hurricane damage,” said Green.
Sering said these homes will come without barriers and discrimination towards people who are financially challenged.
“We don't discriminate against sources of income, we don't do background checks, we don't look at people's eviction history. We know people are homeless for a reason and need somebody to provide housing and accept them even with their challenges in the past, “said Sering.
Nolan White experienced homelessness first-hand, as well as alcohol and drug addiction. During that time, he called LMM home. Seven years later, he works there as the benefit navigator and coordinator.
“The process has been a long one, but I came out of it victoriously because of LMM. They gave me a shot.
White said the lack of affordable housing in Cleveland is one of the main reasons for homelessness in Cleveland, and everyone deserves a home despite their background.
"Going from a shelter to my own place, it was amazing. The places that I went to were very expensive. The landlords had biases against people like me who had barriers. It was hard to find housing, especially housing that was clean, safe, and affordable. I was paying $850 a month for this small one-bedroom apartment, which was at best substandard. But LLM is looking to fix that problem,” said White.
Sering said if 3D housing is approved by the city council, they expect to have the first model built in two years.
