The city of Birmingham plans to propose a new tiny home shelter program for the homeless next week, the mayor’s office said today.

It involves small, lockable shelters where the homeless can sleep safely, using units provided by Pallet Shelter, “the leader in rapid response shelter villages,” according to a statement from the city.

“Our residents who are experiencing homelessness deserve to safely sleep in peace and with dignity,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “We want to provide that for them, but also take it a step further by offering resources that give them the option for a transition into permanent housing.”

Woodfin plans to present the proposal to purchase micro-shelters from Pallet Shelter to the Birmingham City Council on Jan. 10.

The proposed pilot program, called “A Home for All,” will be a community partnership that will include Pallet sleeping units and other services.

Pallet Shelter has built shelter communities for the homeless in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Dallas, Texas; Fresno, California; and Tacoma, Washington, and other cities. The organization has constructed 1,764 sleeping units among 63 shelter communities with more than 4,000 people served. Pallet Shelter would provide private, lockable sleeping units that feature a heating and cooling system and desk. The micro-shelters would be congregated in safe, private communities, according to the proposal. Each can be assembled in under an hour and at a fraction of the cost of traditional homeless shelters, according to Pallet Shelter.

The shelters are made with aluminum framing and fiberglass-reinforced plastic with a foam insulating core for the panels and shelves.

The pilot program would provide additional resources for people who either sleep in shelters or on Birmingham’s streets each night and addresses an immediate need for shelter based on recommendations from members of the city’s unhoused community and service providers, city officials say. It. It includes a plan to have organizers engage, assess and learn about the needs of the unhoused for plans to create transitional and permanent supportive housing in the future.

If the council approves the purchase of up to 100 sleeping units, the City would launch a Request For Proposals for site selection and partners for the pilot program. They are seeking public service providers, nonprofits and institutions interested in piloting a capacity building program to support chronically unhoused with non-congregant housing and wrap around services necessary to create sustainable life options. For more information, go to birminghamal.gov/ahomeforall.

City officials say it’s part of an overall plan to address the housing crisis, along with several affordable home development projects in the works across the city and programs for down payment assistance, lead abatement and critical repairs. The City previously supported construction of a new Firehouse Shelter facility with $1 million, and the AIDS Alabama Way Station facility for youth with $1.3 million.

Each year, the Department of Community Development provides more than $800,000 in federal grants to support emergency shelter and public service providers who assist individuals experiencing homelessness.

The City has also partnered with Jimmie Hale Mission and other community providers to open a warming station in order to increase bed space for those needing a warm place to stay during sub-freezing weather.