Swinerton Prefabricates and Volunteers for 33 Gough Street Supportive Housing Project

On March 8, 2022 Mayor London Breed, Shireen McSpadden, Director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and Supervisor Matt Haney joined DignityMoves staff and partners for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first 30 rooms of a 70-room pilot cabin project for people experiencing homelessness located at 33 Gough Street in San Francisco, California.

DignityMoves is a non-profit organization founded by a group of business leaders from the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) who came together to apply their business skills and resources to end unsheltered street homelessness in our communities by building Interim Supportive Housing with rapid, cost-effective, scalable solutions. Focused initially on California, the organization plans to expand nationally.

The 33 Gough Street community is a partnership between DignityMoves, HSH, Tipping Point Community, Urban Alchemy, and HomeFirst Services, with critical involvement of many partners including Gensler, Boss Cubez, and Swinerton Builders. This 70-room community replaces the tents at the current Safe Sleeping Village in the same location. Each room provides guests approximately 64 square feet of private space—which includes a bed, desk and chair, heating, and, most importantly, a door that locks.

“This special cabin community at 33 Gough Street has not only added to Swinerton’s experience with prefabricated systems and assemblies, but has also provided insight into what humanity’s empathy and respect for one another can achieve,” said Swinerton Assistant Project Manager Cindy Vazquez. “Homelessness has been an evolving issue close to nearly everyone’s community.”

DignityMoves provided Swinerton with a design intent and introduced the contracting team to Boss Cubez, a Harwal Group company. Boss Cubez’s mission statement summarizes their goals and intentions, “simple yet bold, to solve the housing crisis in America. This means getting as many people as possible to have a secure roof over their heads. We aim to take this a step further by offering a truly dignified home for the half a million people facing homelessness in the US.”

From this collaborative effort, Swinerton accepted the challenge of coordinating and piecing together the prefabricated Boss Cubez homes consisting of wall panels, roof panels, floor joists, flooring material, and a variety of small mechanical and electrical items to be installed in each sleeping unit. In addition to sleeping units, this new community will have access to dining units, restrooms facilities, a clinic, and counseling services, all managed by the non-profit organization Urban Alchemy.

“Safe shelter in a calm, private space is a critical step in beginning the healing process for many who have been traumatized,” said Dr. Lena Miller, CEO of Urban Alchemy. “Our guests are excited about this opportunity, and we are proud to partner with DignityMoves and HSH on transitioning the village to individual cabins.”

Despite the challenges of the current shipping and receiving logistics issues, Swinerton is proud to announce the completion of the first set of 30 units that is now housing its first residents. In addition to Swinerton’s involvement in community development, many organizations and neighbors have volunteered to help make the project a welcoming community. Swinerton’s local self-perform division’s volunteers put in a tremendous amount of effort to help get the job done, and our weekend volunteers helped prepare the mini cabins for residents.

A group of local artists have painted murals on the surrounding walls to beautify the parking lot, Gensler and Swinerton employees, Dykes With Drills, and many local families have helped prepare the site and brought welcome baskets, cozy blankets, and other special touches to make each room a welcoming home.

“This is a great example of how public and private partners can join together to meet the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness. Expanding our shelter capacity in San Francisco and piloting a new model that offers an alternative to traditional shelters are key steps in our strategy to make a difference for those living on our streets,” says San Francisco Mayor London Breed.