Template House featured in KQED

A 'Life and Sanity Saver'

For some parolees facing homelessness communal houses fill the gap. Read more here.

Excerpts from the article are here:

Former inmates are almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. More commonly, volunteer reentry groups find housing solutions for community members independently. One of those groups is called Second Life, which is based in San Francisco. That’s where Joseph Krauter’s clinician sent him when he told her he was anxious about leaving his transitional center.

The Second Life Project was started by neuroscientist Zarinah Agnew. A few years ago, Agnew met some people who had recently been released from prison. Agnew saw that more than just a place to be, their friends needed a place to live.

Agnew had already been working to set up communal living spaces as an executive director of the nonprofit District Commons, and was in a good place to help the group rent and buy two houses in San Francisco. The houses are communal, fit in with conditions for people’s probation and parole, and rent is often cheaper than market rate.

Now, Krauter lives in one of the homes, called Sigil, with five other people, some of whom have been to prison and some who haven’t. He cooks lasagna and empanadas for the house, and calls the opportunity a “life and sanity saver.”