Back Bay Mission pushing forward with transitional housing

Back Bay Mission has been working to create transitional housing in Biloxi for more than two years.

Last we heard about the plan was in October when the city of Mobile accused Biloxi police of relocating the homeless population. During this time, Back Bay Mission eagerly pushed its transitional housing plan.

Since then, Back Bay Mission has returned to the drawing board, tweaking their room on wheels.

They are hoping to have this tiny community buzzing around may

“You know, I think it’s going to be experimental, because we know this is happening in some other cities, and we’ve looked to some other cities,” said James Pennington, Back Bay Mission executive director. “But we really are going to start small to see how this works and how this functions here.”

“We’ve had a few design tweaks right now, where we’re going to possibly be putting three of these on a trailer instead of just one on a trailer so they can all utilize the heating and cooling system that goes along with them,” Craig Steenkamp, director of housing recovery, explained.

The goal is to have about 35 sleeping units, with the Mercy Cross gym having services like showers and bathrooms, a cafeteria, and resources to help people on their journey.

“It’s challenging for people who have living on the street for any length of time to suddenly go into traditional apartment,” Pennington said. “To feel isolated from the community, to feel isolated in their apartment.”

The biggest obstacle is going to be finding support. Who is going to help make this a reality? Biloxi City Councilmen Paul Tisdale said he’s willing to join in on the conversation, but he feels it’s going to take a lot more than that.

“The challenge can be better handled, I believe, if we all got together, the cities that are involved, social agencies that are involved, and sat down and worked something out,” Tisdale said. “But somebody has to take the initiative to do that.”

Cost is another factor. It costs $5,000 to build each unit.

“The plan is that the money for the project is going to come from churches that are already connected to Back Bay Mission,” Pennington said. “They are going to fund one of the units or maybe 3 units at once.”

Back Bay Mission is looking for local churches to help fund and build this community.