Because no one should live in a cardboard box, a Bay City-based company has created what it hopes will help move people across the globe out of shanties and into permanent housing.
The new business,
Principal Shelter, brings together four friends committed to addressing the problem of the homeless around the world.
Dale Bash and Chris Vlk, of Bay City, Nic Lahr, of Grand Haven, and Douglas Scripture, of Kalamazoo, are creating buildings of galvanized steel that can be shipped abroad and snapped together like pieces of an erector set in remote locations where no power exists.
And even though the buildings snap together, they're built to stand up to hurricane force winds.
Manufacturing the shelters is a business the four friends hope will not only benefit those in the many countries where people live in substandard conditions, but also build the Michigan economy.
The demand could be huge. Recent estimates say that in Haiti alone after the January earthquake more than 1 million were left homeless, are still living in camps, and reconstruction efforts are barely under way. And Haiti is just one economically ravaged nation where housing is desperately needed.
"There are so many places in the world in need. The list is virtually endless," says Scripture.
Considering the potential demand among the homeless in Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya and beyond, over the next three to five years, Principal Shelter could be manufacturing 5,000 to 10,000 of the galvanized steel buildings, says Dale Bash, who heads the company and is better known in Bay City as CEO of
Dobson Industrial Inc. Dobson Industrial Inc., a three-generation family business established in Bay City 63 years ago, specializes in steel fabrication and erection, machinery moving installation and rigging, industrial maintenance and millwright services, specialized transportation and heavy hauling and more.
Right now, the shelters are being manufactured at Ponder Doors, a division of Dobson Industrial Inc., which would be at capacity when 10,000 of the buildings are being built each year. If the demand grows beyond that the company would look for another facility where it could expand, says Bash.
Despite the potential, just how great the demand will be is something the company cannot predict. There is some competition in the market -- a lot of media attention recently has gone to turning shipping containers into houses and those reports make it sound like the empty containers are lying about and can be transformed into housing for virtually nothing.
That kind of thinking brought Principal Shelter into being. It started with a telephone call from a federal government employee required to remain anonymous, asking if Dobson Industrial could convert its shipping containers into houses.
They checked out what it would take to make the transformation and ultimately decided that was not the best route to go. That meant forgoing the sure-bet government contract -- it went to a company in Texas instead -- but Principal Shelter is convinced the plan it came up with after 18 months of research and design is superior because the company talked with aid workers on the ground to find out what exactly was needed and incorporated those needs into their shelters.
What they came up with can be constructed by three-man teams in one to two days. The buildings can be constructed with no power tools, so they can go up in area where the power has been knocked out or power lines do not reach.
They come with all the fasteners, hand tools and caulk needed for construction. Instructions also are included.
The buildings can be transported without the use of motor vehicles. Using eight poles installed in specially designed holes, they can be carried from place to place.
The flooring has been treated to resist insects and windows come with metal security screens. Each building has six windows.
Three wind-powered roof vents keep the living space cool, as does the three inches of high-quality insulation.
Three complete shelter units, including the bases upon which the buildings sit, can fit in a single shipping container.
They can go up on different kinds of terrain, including rocky ones.
Their snap-together design makes them very flexible. Two can be put together for a double-wide unit. In countries that require less living space per family, the units can be smaller. For example, the basic residential shelter is 40 feet by 8 feet for Haiti and 20 by 8 feet for Jamaica, where people live in smaller spaces.
The building come in three models, sized to be used either as a house, school or medical clinic and sell for $12,500, $13,500 and $14,500 respectively. The larger models have more interior walls.
The price puts them in the mid-range compared to some competitors, but Bash points out the lesser- priced competitors' houses cannot be built in remote areas where there is no power and those cheaper dwellings are temporary solutions not built to last as the Principal Shelter unit is.
And for those enamored of the shipping container turned into houses, Bash says those containers lying about are not free -- they belong to someone. It also is not easy to cut windows and doors into the hardened steel of shipping containers and is difficult to keep those houses cool and comfortable.
Three of the shelters are now standing in Wahoo Bay, Haiti. Getting them up was something of a learning process as the company dealt with the frustration of shipping the buildings only to find they were not being allowed into the country. Ultimately, the matter was resolved and in early October the buildings went up.
Early reaction has been "more than positive," says Scripture, who helps with the sales and marketing arm of the company.
For Principal Shelter's buildings to serve as many people as need them it will take the interest of a number of foundations and nonprofits that have missions of housing the homeless. To that end, Scripture says they have contacted 175 such entities seeking support.
In the end, what drives four successful businessmen to take on such a project? Scripture says he's quoting Bash when he explains it. "If we're not going to do something to make a difference, then what are we doing?"
Kathy Jennings is a freelance writer and editor living in Kalamazoo. She is managing editor of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave.