DignityMoves Publishes Open-Source Interim Housing Playbook
The nonprofit's free guide outlines how communities can build temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Apartments
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DignityMoves released an open-source playbook covering how communities can develop interim housing, including finding available land, securing permits, identifying funding sources, and engaging residents. The organization already operates interim housing communities in Santa Barbara County.
Why it matters
California has designated homelessness as a crisis, and the playbook offers a model for communities seeking faster, lower-cost temporary shelter options. Its approach of borrowing temporarily vacant land rather than purchasing property addresses one of the state's most persistent barriers to development.
DignityMoves says it can deliver interim housing in as little as four months at approximately $50,000 per unit. The extraction does not specify whether that figure includes ongoing operating costs or what the comparable cost of permanent housing is in California.
The players
DignityMoves
A nonprofit organization that operates interim housing communities and has published an open-source playbook for developing similar projects elsewhere.
The details
The playbook explains how communities can find available land, secure permits, identify funding sources, and engage local residents. The model borrows temporarily vacant land rather than purchasing property, which the organization presents as a way to avoid permanent land acquisition costs.
Timeline
• November 9, 2026: DignityMoves released its open-source playbook.
Legal Context
California's designation of homelessness as a crisis has prompted local governments to seek faster paths to temporary shelter. DignityMoves's model of borrowing vacant land aims to give those communities a template that bypasses the slower process of acquiring permanent sites.
Residents in communities considering interim housing projects could see new temporary shelter options developed on vacant land. The approach relies on local permitting and funding, so the timeline and availability will depend on decisions made by each community.
The takeaway
Communities facing homelessness can consider borrowing vacant land and following a documented playbook to shorten the timeline for interim housing. Local engagement and funding identification remain central to moving any such project forward.
Further reading
For more on how housing options are changing across the state, see Apartments in our real estate coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by NewsChannel 3-12.
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