Greensboro City Council approves funds to continue pallet shelter program

Greensboro City Council unanimously approved more than $190,000 in funds Tuesday for the Doorway Project, its pallet shelter program.

The initiative allows for 30 pallet homes to serve as interim housing shelters. Councilmember Zack Matheny says the vote is a Band-Aid for a larger problem. He says the city also needs to know where its money is going.

"What return on investment is the city getting on all the funds, the millions of dollars that we have passed through to these organizations? I'm not seeing the return on investment," Matheny says.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan says the move is a small measure, and more housing is a long-term solution. But alternatives like the city's plan to transform a motel are not currently ready.

"We are in a position where these are life and death decisions," she says.

Vaughan says 80% of the people who started at the pallet homes last year have since found long-term housing.