Nicole Obinger, a St. Cloud wife and mother, says to this day, she is in recovery.

But she’s also a survivor- where each day is a gift.

“In addiction, people are going to die,” Obinger says. “It’s a hard truth.”

Once addicted to alcohol, meth, and other substances, she says she was without shelter for a year-and-a-half.

When she finally found a place to live, Obinger says all her possessions fit into two garbage bags.  

“I was a chronic alcoholic,” she recalls. “I did meth and a lot of pills. It was an ugly road.”

But since 2008, Obinger has been drug free: starting a drywall-painting business, raising a family that includes four kids, and volunteering to help those experiencing homelessness.

“We need to help these people,” she declares. “We can’t force them to get help. But people like me are there when they are ready.”

Obinger though, says she’s encouraged after hearing a plan by Avivo, a Minneapolis non-profit.

The group, which provides tiny home shelters for those experiencing homelessness, is trying to do the same thing in St. Cloud.

“They have it down to the paint color on the wall, it’s a calming effect when you walk in,” Obinger says. “The way they strategically place their little villages and doors. It’s done in a way to have less chaos. Make sure (clients) are not dying of frostbite or an overdose and get them medical care.”

Avivo now provides shelter for about 100 people.

Clients each get their own tiny home- a private, secure space that in turn is located inside a giant, heated warehouse in the North Loop.

“It is the first of its kind in the country, that we know of,” explains Kelly Matter, Avivo’s President and CEO. “Indoor tiny home shelters.”

The group now hopes to open a facility along the 3100 Block of First Street South in St. Cloud.

The city-owned vacant lot is in a commercial area, and Avivo hopes the facility will house about 50 people.

The group says it’s already received about $7.5 million in state grant funding.

But Matter says the group faces several hurdles, including securing nearly $1.2 million in matching funds from the City of St. Cloud, and approval of a city lease for the property.

Both issues are to be voted on at a City Council meeting next week – but Avivo faces a deadline.

“In order to get the state money, we have to have a site identified, and site control by the end of March,” Matter says. “Or we risk losing the state money.”

All of this is happening as the numbers of people experiencing homelessness in St. Cloud continues to rise.

Municipal records show in 2019, there were 17 unsheltered people in the city on any given day.

In 2020- during the pandemic- that number soared to 87.

Now, the latest numbers show 91 people are experiencing homelessness.   

“That’s about 25% over our current supply of shelter and transitional housing,” notes Matt Glaesman, St. Cloud’s Community Development Director. “Most of our existing facilities are in adaptive or restorative use- schools, hotels, motels.”  

Diagrams show what the Avivo facility would look like: large open spaces, dotted with tiny homes, all under one roof.

A far cry from the old motels and schools the city now uses.

“We’re hoping this is one piece of a longer-term solution,” Glaesman says.

“So, every individual has their own unit,” Matter explains. “They can shut the door. They can lock their door, so it’s private. It’s safe, it’s secure.”

For Obinger, the mission to provide more housing is personal.  

She says her oldest son, Christian, who’s 20, is living in Minneapolis, without shelter and is fighting a fentanyl addiction.

“He’s not ready to get help, and I have tried. But I also know powerlessness. He’s utterly powerless over what he’s dealing with,” Obinger says. “Nobody wants their loved one in a shelter, but I wish he was in Avivo, because at least I would know he’s safe, and know where he is, and he’s not on the streets getting beaten.”    

With the upcoming City Council vote, Obinger says if Avivo gets the go-ahead, she’d consider volunteering at the St. Cloud facility.

“We need to love these people,” she says. “What they do is, they give people a chance to live. They can’t guarantee it, but they can help them stay alive.”