Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is thinking inside the box to help solve the city's homelessness and housing affordability problems. He announced a plan called the Rapid Housing Initiative, which will convert shipping containers into multifamily housing communities and provide homes for Atlanta residents. On Jan. 26, the city opened the first of these complexes, known as The Melody, a 40-unit affordable housing community in the city's downtown area.

The long-term plan is for The Melody to be the first step in housing 500 Atlanta residents in micro-units built from converted shipping containers. Each of the converted containers will be a one-bedroom unit with a kitchenette. The complex is named after Melody Bloodworth, an unhoused Atlanta woman struggling with mental illness who froze to death while sleeping on an Atlanta street in November 2022.

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