Minneapolis tiny home shelter in emergency overflow amid dangerous cold

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota shelters are making the effort to bring people experiencing homelessness in from the cold.

OJ is staying at Avivo Village in Minneapolis, a tiny home shelter, but has lived on the streets before during a Minnesota winter.

"It hurts. You're just frozen," he said. "Sometimes it feels like you're going to die."

Avivo has 100 tiny homes, and people can stay until they have their own housing.

During this recent cold snap, Avivo's in what it calls an "emergency overflow situation," housing people in its facility beyond the tiny homes.

"We have about 20 right now [in overflow], and we absolutely could accommodate more," said Emily Bastian, Avivo's Vice President of Ending Homelessness. "If people come to our doors, we're not going to turn them away. It is dangerous outside."

Bastian says Avivo has outreach teams going tent to tent in the city's homeless encampments.

"Making sure folks are safe and trying to encourage them to come inside," Bastian said. "We're not the only outreach team doing that. There are other outreach teams in the community doing that as well."

Inside the shelter, residents can get into the holiday spirit with festive decorations and Christmas movie marathons.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire with family, of course. I remember days like that when things were good, but I'm here today and I appreciate it," OJ said.

OJ says he ended up at Avivo after losing everything in a bad divorce. He's working on getting an apartment to call his own.

"This is the place that helped me," OJ said. "Like I got confidence now. I'm like, 'Ok, now I can face this world.'"

Bastian says with a little compassion, we can all make a difference during this season of giving.

"Because it's so cold right now, if you're outside and you see someone, don't just drive by," she said. "Make a call to 911 or reach out so someone can check on them."

Bastian says they accept donations of socks, sheets, blankets and pillows as well as monetary donations.

Avivo has helped move more than 100 people into permanent housing since it opened in 2020. The city has approved $1.2 million in new funding for next year.