When Amy and Brady King started experimenting with how to build durable, reusable temporary housing that would be easy to transport and assemble, they were imagining a product to assist people after natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods that usually struck far from the Northwest.
But their first big customer ended up being close to home and for an ongoing, social emergency — the Northwest’s homelessness crisis.
Three years ago the Kings launched Pallet, an Everett, Wash. company that sells temporary shelters made of hard, plastic panels.
Brady King, a contractor and trained firefighter, was inspired to tackle the problem after seeing the mediocre shelter options available following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.