Homeless America!

I was recently reading an article about tiny houses and whether it was considered sane or not. In this one article I read, it said that when the Unabomber was in court, his lawyers used the size of his dwelling, a 10 x 12 foot structure, as part of his defense for mental instability. They tried to state that because of the size of his "house", he was not in his right mind. Back then, they looked at a tiny house as being something for the insane. Now, although it is a bit akward to see someone chosing to live in a small (under 1000sq ft) or tiny (under 500sq ft) house, it is now coming out to be a bit more sane than people realize.
Look at the housing market now. There are people who lived in large homes that they could barely afford and now lost them due to the alternative mortgages prevelant at the time adjusting and inflating to higher interest rates. I read this other article yesterday about families in Massachusetts are going homeless at a very high rate because of this mortgage crisis. By Massachusetts state law, they are required to find shelters for families who look for it. Because of the latest increase of homeless in the state, they are now moving into hotels. Depending on how many people seek shelters, this may be a large burden on those living in the state and the possibility of taxes raising to offset the cost.
Seeing this situation, I'm sure it's happening to different degrees all over the country. I wonder about the option of having small communities of smaller homes, even if it's temporary housing to help others get past this current situation. Having a tiny house could be built fairly cheap and have only bare neccessities to live. On the Tiny House Blog, There was a post about a non-profit group in Atlanta building shelters for the areas homeless people called the Mad Housers. This little shelters are nothing more than a single room with a bed and a place to put ones things.
I think this is a pretty good alternative and low cost to the tax payers, uses little materials so there's less waste in the building process. I'm sure places this small isn't going to do much for families but still, being able to provide a low cost alternative may help more people than anyone realizes. Some of these homeless people chose to stay homeless, others have little to no choice. But for those who are looking to fix these problems in their lives, having a place to stay could benefit them. Having a place where they have an address to put on resumes, a place to call "home" if even for a short time until they get back on their feet is important to them. There should be more groups out there seeking to help people like this who really want it.
I did have this idea once about 3 years ago. I thoght it would be nice to help others out to get back on their feet or just to provide a place for them to stay. Of course, there would have to be rules such has no drinking, no drugs and other rules that could allow for a safe environment for everyone else in the same situation.

I hope for a better future for those familes that are trying to survive in these troubled times.

~Dan