Key points:
- California struggles with growing homelessness crisis despite billions spent.
- DignityMoves founder Elizabeth Funk advocates for interim housing as a solution.
- DignityMoves’ model uses relocatable cabins on temporarily available land.
LOS ANGELES — For years, California has struggled with a growing homelessness crisis that has defied billions in public spending and decades of political promises. While most policy discussions have centered on the construction of permanent affordable housing, a growing movement argues that interim housing — private, trauma-informed, and service-rich — may offer a more immediate and cost-effective solution.
Elizabeth Funk, founder and CEO of DignityMoves, has emerged as one of the leading voices pushing for this shift. A veteran of Silicon Valley and impact investing, Funk said she was struck by how entrenched approaches to homelessness had failed to stem the rise in unsheltered populations.
“All I know is that whatever we’re doing isn’t working,” she said. “We keep spending more and more money and the problem keeps getting worse and maybe it needs a new angle.”…