"We never would have come up with this solution if we hadn't been talking to our neighbors and walking through the neighborhoods.

Last year, I met residents in Roswell, New Mexico, who were trying hard to find a solution to the dire housing shortage in their town.

People everywhere in Roswell were living doubled up, on each other’s couches, and even in the dry river beds. They’d tried working with the city, but had been told that this was a “charity issue,” not one for the government to figure out. They disagreed, but set out nonetheless to find a solution.

And they did. The solution they came up with is one of the most efficient, cost-effective, and locally sustainable concepts I’ve ever heard-- and it’s working.

Best yet: They finally got the government to take it seriously, and their project has now been funded statewide.

Here’s the original story where the project, and how they figured it out, is detailed:

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In Case You Missed It:

Last week on Working Class Stories, we went to Lake Station, Indiana to meet the folks behind the Fix-it-Fair.