Eight Tiny Bedrooms On One Trailer

One rainy commute in Oregon set off a hard question: why is someone sleeping on concrete while the rest of us drive by and call it “complicated”? We sit down with Jason Christensen, founder of Sleep Trailer LLC, who decided to build a practical homelessness solution with a clear first principle: safety and sleep come before everything else.

Jason walks us through his mobile “capsule hotel” trailer, a secure sleep pod system that holds eight individual pods on a single trailer. Each pod is designed for dignity and harm reduction: a lockable space, detectors for safety, washable surfaces, and a layout built for real-world use. We talk about why chronic sleep deprivation fuels bad decisions, why many people begin substance use after becoming homeless, and how a safe place to rest can shift someone from surviving in six-hour chunks to planning a way forward. The most striking moment is what Jason calls “day three” when you can literally see hope return after consistent sleep.

We also get honest about public pushback, NIMBY fears, and why managed shelter options work differently than unmanaged camping. Jason explains the daily check-in and intake process that identifies barriers like missing ID, delayed benefits, job loss, housing waitlists, and treatment needs, then connects people to support. We zoom out to the bigger vision too: cities and counties using mobile shelter trailers for homelessness response, disaster relief, domestic violence survivors, reentry after incarceration, and even safe alternatives at festivals.

If you care about homelessness prevention, mobile shelter, harm reduction, or practical community solutions, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with someone in local government or nonprofit work, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

RTO Smart
Velocity 360
Digital Shed Builder
Shed Suite
Pittsburgh Paints Co

Transcript

Welcome And Industry Reality

INTRO 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. Here's a message from our studio sponsor. Let's be real. Running a shed business today isn't just about building great sheds. The industry is changing fast. We're all feeling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, clunky software, or disconnected systems. You're spending more time managing chaos than actually growing your business. That's why I want to talk to you about our studio sponsor, ShedPro. If you're not already using them, I really think you should check them out. ShedPro combines your 3D configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools all in one platform. They even integrate cleanly into our Shed Geek marketing solutions. From website leads, to final delivery, you can quote, contract, collect payment, and schedule delivery in one clean workflow. No more double entries, no more back and forth chaos. Quoting is faster, orders are cleaner. And instead of chasing down paperwork, you're actually running your business. And if you mention ShedGeek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/ShedGeek. Thank you, ShedPro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.

Partner Spotlight On Better Coatings

Meet Sleep Trailer And The Pods

Cord 1:42

Welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. I am here on a overcast and really quite chilly, Went ahead and put the jacket on here today for the for the drive-in and the drive out. From Metropolis, Illinois, of course, shedquarters. You know that today I am joined by uh just a really great entrepreneur, uh, a person whose heart uh is in his organization and is really trying to make a difference. I'm so excited for this episode. We've been trying to get together for a couple weeks, and I just want to know everything about what he does. Um but before we get into that, uh a few ways to stay plugged in with the Shed Geek Podcast and the Shed Geek Network. Of course, you can always give us a call, 618-309-3648. Call or text that line. info@shedgeek.com. That is our email address. Everyone here has access to that. So, we will be sure to check that and uh and get back to you. Our Facebook page, of course, and then the industry Facebook pages, shed sales professionals in particular, but the manufacturers page, the haulers page. We really encourage everyone to participate within those industry groups. So much knowledge passes back and forth, so much helpfulness uh happens within the industry. And of course, we're always so thankful for all of you out there for that. Uh, also want to just touch on our partners over at Pittsburgh Paints. They have now come out with their True Industrial and True Shed Max shed program. Guys, we all know that the paint is the first impression that a customer gets from the sheds that are on your lot. But we also know uh being in the industry and being builders and manufacturers, those of you out there listening who do that, you know that there's way more to it than just the paints themselves. We know that Pittsburgh Paints can produce a high quality paint, high quality coatings, high quality urethanes. We know all of that. But the true industrial line of products and the true Shed Max Shed program, guys, this is top to bottom. This is service, this is the product itself, it is all of the ancillary products that are in that space. Carter and Jamie, we love those guys. Of course, you can go back and revisit the episode that we did with them where Carter talks a little bit about barbecuing kangaroos. Um, so so definitely go and check that out. But this is this is a program, it is meant to be local so that when you have questions, when you need training, they are right down the road and and they can get to you and provide that service. Their their aim is to buy to provide absolute top-notch notch service along with their top-notch products. So go and check those guys out. Of course, you can always give us a call and we will be happy to connect you. Having said all of that, I would like to introduce my guest today, Mr. Jason Christensen of Shed Trailer Sleep Trailer LLC. I'm sorry, I've said shed so many times in a row, Jason. Sleep trailer LLC, a really, really great organization company out on the West Coast that is tackling. Well, you know what, Jason? Um instead of trying to describe it for you, um, I'll just pass it over to you and tell me about yourself, tell me about your company, and I can only presume that there is a heartfelt mission um behind what you've got going on.

Jason Christensen 5:11

Yeah, so um I'm the founder and owner of Sleep Trailer LLC. So basically um it's like a capsule hotel, if you've ever seen those in Japan, uh, which is basically just a small pod that people can sleep in, get out of the elements, lock their stuff up at night. Um, I was looking around seeing all the homelessness in my area. I live um in Oregon, and I just said there's gotta be more we can do, and so I um started this company, and so each of the pods is about four feet, eight inches wide, about eight feet long, four feet tall. So plenty of room to sit up and still have some space above your head. It's got CO2 smoke detectors, washable paint coating, um, drains in the floor, window as a second egress, um, all the things that you would need to be kind of safe and run a safe thing. And then it's on a trailer and it's got eight of them, all on one trailer. Kind of stacked almost. Four on the bottom, four on the top, four on the bottom, four on the top. So, you can help eight different people have a safe place to sleep at night. And it's been uh very rewarding and a great process to kind of see that finally taking shape and um actually being used for what I intended it to be.

Cord 6:37

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I've I actually um came across one of your videos. You're also we were talking a little before the podcast, uh, of course, these days to get the message out and and to make the impact that you want to make. Um, you know, you have to you have to learn video production and and uh and be a little entertaining. So I've seen you kind of uh roll around back and forth uh you know across uh across the floor of that uh four foot eight inch wide space and set up and kind of uh you know show just how much room um you know and so you know that effort of putting out those videos is what connected us, and I'm sure what has you know connected you with people in your area that you can help as well. Um, if you don't mind sharing, I mean, it sounds like there must be um, you know, I don't know, uh a personal story or a mission. Uh some somehow your heart has to drag you into this, into this this thing, right? I mean, it's of course there's some practicality. The Japanese do it, and you think, okay, um, but but what was going on, you know, maybe in your life or in your community that really like pulled at you to to do to do something like that?

Jason Christensen 7:53

So for me, I was just on my way to work. Um, so right now I'm the executive director of a nonprofit here in Oregon that works with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Um, at the time I was just the associate director and did behavior supports, which means I write and create behavior support plans. So, working with somebody that's engaging in some kind of behavior that isn't really safe or isn't appropriate, I helped create a plan to break that cycle and to add in more appropriate behaviors. Right. Um, and so I was on my way to work and I saw a gentleman sleeping under a business overhang just on the concrete. And I live in Oregon, it's rainy, it's gloomy. I mean, you can see out the back here. Um beautiful, right? But always almost 90% of the year is overcast and kind of gloomy looking. Um, it doesn't rain as much as people pretend it rains, but it's often overcast and depressing. Uh but this this day it was raining, and I just was really mad, and I was just went, why isn't somebody doing something about this? Yeah, you know, these are people in my community. Um, these aren't like some random people in the news, these are you know people in my neighborhoods, you know. And in that moment, you know, God kind of punched me in the gut and just said, Hey, you're somebody.

Cord 9:26

That's right. Why aren't you doing something about this? When God gets happy and boy, it's it's uh it's a hard hard thing to shake, isn't it, Jason?

Jason Christensen 9:37

It it was, and it would not leave me alone. So, like, I am just do trying to do my regular work life stuff, and just this like thing that's just keeps like pounding you and hitting you, and so I was like, okay, okay, fine, I understand.

Cord 9:57

Right.

Jason Christensen 9:58

And so I had to start thinking about like, okay, what would I do? Right, how what do I see as the issue? What do I see is like how do you break that type of behavior pattern? Because most things are we go to what's the most comfortable behavior pattern for us, yeah.

Why Safety And Sleep Matter

Cord 10:17

And that's your specialty, right? That's your yeah, your specialty is kind of delving into what is the psychology or what are the steps, how do you how do you truly, truly help? I think that there's you know, there's some cynicism um in the world, probably always, but it seems like particularly right now, um, about homelessness or drug use or um all the things that are that are associated. But this is like you said, this is this is uh your area of expertise, a place where you can actually apply your own knowledge to then say, okay, what are we, what is the core problem, the root problem, not just the fact that you wind up on the street, right? So so how did you uh you know, so what so that must have led you, but walk me through it. How did that lead you to uh well?

Jason Christensen 11:10

So, one of the biggest things that I tried to think is just like empathetically, like, okay, if I'm in that situation, like let's say I find myself homeless tomorrow, what would I personally need help with, and then what could I do on my own? And for me, it came down to the big areas are safety and security. Yep.

Cord 11:40

Um things everyone needs, right?

Jason Christensen 11:42

Yeah, if you have a safe place and you don't have to worry about where you're gonna sleep tonight, you can then from there start thinking about okay, how do I get a better place to sleep, or how do I get a better job or a better situation or develop this relationship or do all but it all starts with safety and security. Um, you know, a lot of people have a lot of different stereotypes when it comes to people that are homeless. And one of the big ones is like it's all mental health, it's all drug ad drug use. Yeah, you would be shocked, one, at the number of people that are homeless that have never used drugs, but also the number of people that are using drugs that started using drugs after they became homeless. Okay, not before.

Cord 12:37

Because of where you wind up, right?

Jason Christensen 12:40

Yeah, I mean, you're out on the street, and when most people that are experiencing homelessness, they're thinking in like six hour increments.

Cord 12:48

Yeah.

Jason Christensen 12:48

So, they're not thinking about like how do I, you know, live the best life and get out of this situation that's how do I survive the next six hours? And so, if you're living in that like six hour increments, you know, and you are miserable, you're hating every minute of your life, and somebody comes along and was like, hey, look, this will at least take the edge off. Yeah, people are gonna take that, right? Because it's better to feel good for a few hours than just to constantly be in this state of misery. Yeah, right now, logically that doesn't make sense and is not gonna lead to success, but in that moment, people aren't thinking logically and clearly. So you take that, and then you also take the fact of mental health, right? What is the number one thing that helps people's mental health?

Cord 13:41

Safety, security, right?

Jason Christensen 13:43

The no safety, security, and sleep.

Cord 13:47

Oh gosh, yeah, right.

Jason Christensen 13:49

Like, how many times have you had a rough night where you did not get a lot of sleep?

Cord 13:55

A lot. And my wife would tell you, my mental health the next morning is not good.

Jason Christensen 14:00

Yeah, you're more onery, you're gonna say things you wouldn't normally say, you're gonna do things you wouldn't normally do, all because you haven't had a good night's sleep, right? Now, compound that over months of not sleeping, right? And so, like, I have this question that I just ask myself like, what if it is that easy? What if safety and sleep and security is enough to change the dial for hundreds of people? Yeah, like it's such a simple concept, but it could literally change the world for so many people if they just knew, like, hey, I'm good tonight, I got a safe place, my stuff's not gonna be stolen, I can leave and go to work and come back, and I don't have to worry about my stuff being stolen. So, like, I can actually start looking at taking next steps, right? Because a lot of people get trapped in the homeless encampment because they can't leave because that shady neighbor down the street will see that they left, come in and take all their most precious things, right? Or they have to carry all their most precious things with them everywhere they go for the entire day.

Cord 15:22

State of desperation all the time, right? Yeah.

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Day Three And The Return Of Hope

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Cord 17:46

Just how much we all try to make an impact, make a Godly impact, make a Christian impact, you know, on our communities, on our neighbors, um around the world. Um and what that impact could be. And you know, the circumstances that you're describing there, I mean, outside of war and starvation, right? I just don't know, which I'm sure that that some of the people are probably up against, you know, starvation or malnutrition, um, you know, regularly. Um, you know, there's just not much of a deeper impact that you can make in someone's life, um, you know, than than that. I think Luke uh what Luke 6, I guess it's the end of 29 and 30, right after turning the other cheek. It is if uh um oh gosh, if if someone takes your coat, do not hesitate to give them your shirt. Uh if someone if some or if someone asks for your coat, do not hesitate to give them your shirt. If someone takes of you, do not demand it back. Um, you know, in our industry, in the shed industry, um, you know, that sometimes brings ire from people because it can go um, you know, if a shed goes missing, uh, a lot of the times those who are in the plain community, the devout community, um, they don't take action. Um, you know, and so you know, that's a conversation that happens kind of in the background around uh sheds and selling sheds and recovering sheds and everything like that. But you know, just the Godliness of um thinking through what that despair must be like and then offering a refuge um for that person's body, but I mean also for their soul.

unknown 19:37

Right.

Cord 19:37

The weight that must be lifted whenever you're able to uh crawl into one of those pods and lock the lock the door behind you. I think you have locking windows and doors so that they're they know that nobody's coming in for their stuff, nobody is able to uh you know kind of mess with them. I mean, my goodness, you not only for your mind and to start thinking about tomorrow and the next day and the week after and getting out of a situation, but just the weight off of your soul that that has to provide for a person.

Jason Christensen 20:10

Um my favorite part, honestly, is day three. Um, somebody goes into that pod night one, and then morning of day three, they're coming out of that pod, and it's not the same person that went in the first night. Yeah, you know, you're looking at somebody that has suddenly gotten sometimes 12 consecutive hours of sleep because their body has just not really been able to restfully sleep, yeah. Um, and you know, their whole countenance is different, you know, there's a light in their eyes, there's a hope, and then and then the other cool part is there's eight pods, right? And so, people are in the pods, and they see their neighbors have success and are able to get out. Oh, yeah, right, and suddenly that light starts turning on, and they go, Oh crap, this is actually possible. Like that, like it's great to be safe and secure, but like this can actually be something so much more than that as well. That I'm just you know, because I'll because I got asked this question online the other day like, how do you know the people that are actually gonna take it seriously and take the next steps versus the people that are just gonna abuse it? And the answer is I don't. Yeah, I give it to everybody, and sometimes the people that probably wouldn't have taken it seriously, once they get in and you start sleeping, you start thinking more rationally, thinking more clearly, and you see hope because you're seeing other people have success.

Cord 21:50

Right.

Jason Christensen 21:50

Then suddenly you're like, All right, what do I need to do? What are my things in the way? And like, hey, this is possible.

Cord 21:57

Like even if their intentions weren't. Necessarily the purest going in. Right. You know, like you can't help but feel optimism when, you know, I mean, like you're saying, I'm sure it almost becomes a little micro community almost.

Jason Christensen 22:11

Oh, yeah. They look out after each other, they love each other. They're like, they're great. The people that come and use it are so awesome, and they just kind of create a tight-knit little family, you know, for that period of time. And they're so happy for others when they have success and they're cheering other people on and they're looking out for each other too, you know. Like, um, they'll look after each other's stuff, you know, sometimes because um, like, hey, I'm gonna go run to the convenience store and get some get a drink or get some food. Like, all right, I'll watch your pod, make sure nothing happens to you.

Pushback And Not In My Backyard

Cord 22:53

No funny business. Yeah, yeah. And um just like your neighbors do, right? Hey, you know, we're gonna be out of town for we're gonna be out of town for a couple days, right? Just keep an eye on things. I mean, yeah, I mean, that's a sense of community that you know, maybe they haven't uh, you know, for some people, gosh, maybe you haven't had it in your life. Haven't ever had it, yeah. You know, and for others, maybe haven't had it in a long time. Um, I know you had done a video, and of course we're doing all the good stuff, talking about all the good side, so I don't want to bring that down, but I do think it's worth touching on. Um, I just saw where you'd kind of done something where you know you hate whenever you get you're trying to do the right thing and you're trying to help people, and that you had got some kind of pushback or some um, you know, on that side of it. I mean, if you don't mind, and you know, uh you don't have to dig into it too awful deep. I'm sure it's not great to think about sometimes when you know you're trying to stay the course, but you know, how do people push back against this? Is it you know what like what's the I mean, is it hateful? Is it is it concerned? Is it lashing out at you for let me ask you this?

Jason Christensen 24:08

You have homeless in your area, yeah. Um when people speak of the homeless, is it ever just a neutral thing, or is it either very much opposed or very much empathetic?

Cord 24:23

That's the two extremes. You're exactly right. That's I mean, um, you know, and I had actually worked at uh a local business here in Metropolis, and similar to what you had described, there was a couple, a man and a woman. Um they weren't sleeping underneath an overhang. Um, but we had like one of those, oh, I don't know, outdoor kind of walkway. So, it was a nice, it was a full sidewalk that was covered, and they wouldn't sleep there, but they would come there during the day. Um, and would like we had an outdoor outlet, you know, uh a one pin outlet, and they would charge phones and stuff like that. And you know, like you know, we I mean, I you know, I've always worked in businesses and four people who are um, you know, I think fairly empathetic, godly, good people. Um, and so, you know, we didn't have a problem with it. In fact, you know, I took them out some waters and some crackers and stuff, and um, you know, no big deal. But then they started having like domestic disputes outside our window with um you know with customers there. And so anyway, yeah, you know, I like I feel like we kind of went from being like empathetic to probably being almost neutral to being like we don't, but it's exactly when burned, yeah.

Jason Christensen 25:43

People get burned out.

Cord 25:45

It's exactly what you're saying.

Jason Christensen 25:46

So like we call them um like in when you're we call them NIMBY's, right? Which is an acronym stands for not in my backyard. Yeah, because we want to help, just not here. Everybody wants a solution, but nobody wants a solution nearer than so that's always the biggest thing, right? Is like, you know, like oh hey, this is a really great idea, but you shouldn't do it here. You should do it, you know. Other side of town, yeah, other side of town in somebody else's neighborhood or whatever, you know. And so, one of the beauties of it being a mobile option is it's not a permanent right. And so we can say, hey, we're gonna try it for three months. If it works, great. If it doesn't, look, we can haul it off. It doesn't have to stay here. Like it's not stuck, you're not committing to it for the rest of your life. Um, you're committing to it for three months, try it out, you'll see, and it either works or it doesn't, right? And then we move on. And so that has been a big um blessing. Um, the hardest part is just the stereotypes that people deal that they have, right? Every time we're I one of the comments I get all the time is like, you know, give it one week, that place will be a whole dumpster by the end of the week, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And it's like, okay, that may be true if it was just like, hey, go ahead and camp there all you want, right? But having a managed site is different than just permitted camping free-for-yeah, right, right. Permitted camping free-for-all, I have yet to see it be successful long term. It all it can always start out successful for you know, even six months sometimes.

Cord 27:43

Yeah.

Jason Christensen 27:44

But you start getting some people in there that start turning things up and and making it a really bad situation.

Daily Check In And Support Flow

Cord 27:51

And then it's yeah, it's self, it's self-governed by only the people who are in the desperate circumstance. And like there's always, always, I mean, desperate people do desperate things, and you know, whenever that's what's going on, it's always gonna turn, no matter how good and fruitful it is. Yeah, right, right. So walk me through. This is this was one thing I was very curious about. So, if you are it walk me through what the you know, what we would call in the shed industry is the customer experience, like the sleeper experience, the customer experience. Like walk me through how they from the moment they realize like I don't want to sleep under this overhang or on this concrete. There's a better option. And like what how are they then interacting and like what's that look like through the life of their stay there?

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Jason Christensen 30:49

So it starts out with every day we have check-in at the pods. It's 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. They come in, they say, Hey, I'd really love to have a place to sleep tonight if there's one available. Staff, we have staff there at that time. They will do an intake form. Kind of get the person's name, their information, and like what's in your way? Like, why are you living on the street right now? Right? Is it you don't have your social security income? Do you did you lose your identification? Did you are you on a housing list, but nothing's come up yet? Is it drug use and substance use related? Is it I need a job, I need employment? Like, what are your specific barriers that are standing in your way? And they get all that information. You get you say, All right, you get pod number four tonight. That person checks in, uses that pod. Um now at the pod, we don't do um staffing there all night. We do have security cameras, we do have um police that will patrol because it's in a very public place, and so anything that's going on, somebody will make a report and things will get taken care of, right? Um, but you know, these people are also not three years old, right? They're adults, yeah, yeah, right. They're adults, so you know, there is a bit of trust there the and self-governance there, um, to a certain extent. Now um so they do that, they wake up in the morning, they get out of the pot, and they you know, we give them a broom and everything to kind of sweep out and clean out their pod that they used.

Cord 32:46

And they have they have like drains in them as well, too.

Jason Christensen 32:48

Yep, right? Like they can so they can they caned to like if somebody made a real real mess of something, you should go in there and spray it out. Um it's typically not needed. Yeah, right. Um and so in the morning they clear all their stuff out, and the staff just ask them, hey, what's your plans today? What what's going on? Um, checkout is every day at about 8: 30 a.m. in the morning. Um and then the people that are doing the checkouts, they also do supports, um, helping people get into housing and treatment and other things. And so it's like, hey, if you want to meet over at our office today at nine, we'd love to work with you on XYZ thing that you're working on.

Cord 33:34

And now they know what that is, right? I mean, that's part of the intake process. So, are they then able to because you were saying day three, like upon checkout, are they able to sort of like quote unquote reserve? Or it's yeah, yeah.

Jason Christensen 33:48

So typically, and we've done it different ways. So sometimes and when we first did it, we allowed people to just leave their bedding and everything in there for the day, like, hey, are you coming back today? For sure. All right, right. You can have pod three. So, what happens is they get first right of refusal, right? So that means 4 p.m. rolls around. If they got to be there within the first like 20, 30 minutes, sure, and then they get their pod back. Um, and then if not, then it goes to first come, first serve basis of whoever else showed up there.

Cord 34:24

Right, right.

Jason Christensen 34:24

Um, and so that's kind of how we have set it up. Lately, they've been doing it similar to that, except they are making people clean out the pod every single day. Um which and that has worked fine as well uh for a lot of people. There's some people that bring a lot of stuff, as you can imagine.

How Builders Can Plug In

Cord 34:43

Well, yeah, they're carrying it with them. That's kind of all they're they don't want to lose anything, and so they bring everything, it's what's important to them, and you know, there's actually a so you know, we had kind of spoken, and you know, there's a very obvious overlap with the expertise of the listeners of this podcast, um, because they're people who you know build structures, so I mean, you know, just the actual building out of a concept like that would be a breeze. Uh you know, of course, you need some of the particular components, you know, the little pop-up drains and the doors and everything, but you know, it would be a breeze for the builders. But I think something that that may actually I didn't think of whenever we had first spoken is just how beneficial this actually would be to some of the shed lots who struggle to keep their display units from turning into you know temporary overnight, you know, and of course for them, you know, just like the example of you know where I had worked before, it's like you know, you want to be empathetic to people and you want to be godly to people, but we also have to be able to run a business and have customers. And so, you know, the idea even is now kind of in my mind of well, gosh, doesn't it not only make sense? Um, is there not only overlap in the industry with the expertise of you know how to put these things together and implement this, but also there would really be an advantage. It'd kind of be the opposite of the NIMBY thing, right? It would actually be like, I would like one of those like you know, a block away from my shed lot to make so that, you know, so that uh instead of the display units, you know people to just go over there. Yeah, it's right over there, right? It's just right over there. Um, you know, and I think that that's uh you know, a reasonable and good uh you know, good alternative that that really kind of you know helps everyone, so to speak. Um, so I guess you know, um the next thing I kind of want to uh understand and then understand how maybe the industry, which um credit to our listeners, credit to the industry itself, just such a uh giving, um, charitable, uh, big-hearted community of people that we have as listeners and even the people who don't listen to the podcast, but who are just in the shed industry, um, otherwise, just such a charitable group of folks. And so, I guess kind of tell me where the efforts are at today, um, how you how you want to take the next steps, um, and really, you know, do is there a uh something is there some way that people can jump in immediately? Um tell me tell me where you're at and where you're going, Jason.

Jason Christensen 37:40

Yeah, so I mean ultimately the goal is to have a bed available for every single person that needs it, right? And so, uh our motto is building a bed for every head. Now, I say that I literally only have the one prototype right now, right?

Cord 37:57

Um, you need somebody to build another.

Jason Christensen 38:01

Yeah, we're still in the uh the creating phase. We're actually we just started building um our first um sleep trailer, not the prototype, and so really excited about that. Hopefully, end of this month we'll be we'll be seeing that rolling out and kind of showing people some of the upgraded features and situations, and I think it's gonna be a lot, lot nicer. Um, and gonna be able to help a lot of people because you know there's only there's some things that you only learn by doing it.

Cord 38:34

That's right.

Jason Christensen 38:35

You go, okay, I need this a little bit different, and this would be better if it was here or there, and um, and so it makes a lot of sense, and so I'm I get calls from all over the country, people wanting to do a sleep trailer, yeah. And you know, sleep trailer is a side project that I've been working on, so it's I haven't made any money from it, it's literally just this side project, and so um that I've been working on since it this all started in 2016, to give you an idea, uh just how long it's gonna take in to get to this point. Yeah, and so right now I'm um so typically I don't build the trailers myself, I look for manufacturers that um would be willing to give me a quote on building the trailer, and then I add 15 markup and make that the retail price of the trailer, and so I'm always looking for you know and then where you especially on the east coast.

Cord 39:37

Are you selling uh are you then kind of the idea is then to kind of sell those to maybe like a municipality, yep, or uh um like here in in Metropolis or Massac County, we have like uh MCDAC, which is uh Massac County Drug Awareness Coalition. So, you know, they have you know they're not directly, you know, not directly um you know necessarily uh focused on homelessness, but I have a feeling of this type of a you know solution and some and some testimony like you're giving here on just how well um this works, you know, for the actual people who are going through it. Uh I have a feeling something like that. So that's kind of the aim is to have manufacturers here and there, um, and then be able to give this solution to municipalities or organizations that are then doing this the same or similar work in different places.

Jason Christensen 40:36

Yeah, and the I mean ideally that would be ideal because then they could use it for people experiencing homelessness, natural disasters and earthquakes, tornadoes, different things where you people just need a place to crash while they kind of piece their life together because you know, everything kind of went up in smoke. Or you also have like disaster workers coming in to help after a flood or something, and they just need a place to crash while they are helping clean things up. Um, you can have it for domestic view abuse uh survivors that again just need a place to crash for three days while they figure out how to get away from their situation. People that are getting out of prison, same situation, the they just need a place to crash while they figure out how to get a job and get a get a place to live. And so, if counties, cities, and states purchase them, and then they could move them around to wherever the need is, right? Right. Um, even you could even use it for fairs and festivals if you have a big fair festival that comes into town where people just need a place to crash while they're going to the concert or be safe, don't drive after sleep it off, yeah, where they're under the influence so that they're not uh harming themselves or others, and so um I ideally that's how I would see it working is every city county having two or three of them, and then they can share resources and you can load them up with like for emergencies and disasters, you could have it loaded up with supplies, yeah. Take it to wherever the emergency is, give all the supplies away, and then you have a place to sleep, you know.

Cord 42:20

It's still a effectively an enclosed trailer, yeah. You'll have all that cargo space, uh for the trailer.

Jason Christensen 42:28

And it can be pulled with like a I pulled mine with an F-150.

Cord 42:32

Yeah.

Jason Christensen 42:32

All right, like it's not taking a super hauler to get it around, which we've got plenty of those in the industry too.

Contact Jason And Help Build More

Cord 42:40

The haulers listen to this, listen to this podcast as well. And in fact, the uh Shed Haulers Brotherhood is probably the biggest uh individual kind of charitable organization inside the industry. So um I have a feeling that we will get calls and inquiries and um uh so for you manufacturers out there, I've I can just already see uh as people are listening to this, their gears are going to be turning because my gears are turning because I know I know how many uh people out there would do such a great job of this. Um, you know, it is a great cause. Uh it is making a difference in Jason's community. And so please reach out to us, let us put you in touch. Um, you know, uh spread the spread the mission, right? Um there are people out there, I just have no doubt, who are gonna want to uh build one of these things um and put these to put these to work in their own communities, and that just that that continues to grow uh grow the effect and make that positive effect. Um Jason, I mean, as you've been talking, you know, I know we already said uh you know, talked about Luke, but uh, but then in Matthew, uh, of course, you know, for what you do for the least of these. brothers and sisters, you do for me. And I just can't, you know, I think that that's where the industry's heart is. It obviously is where your heart is. And so, any kind of closing thoughts, any, any way that that we can what's the best way? Maybe this. Give us your uh email address or your website let people go directly. And of course we here at Shed Geek are always happy to be the connectors on that stuff as well.

Jason Christensen 44:28

Yeah. Yeah and my email is just Jason@ sleep trailer.com nice and simple. And then I'm on social media Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Sleep Trailer LLC is kind of the handle there. So, and then the website is sleep trailer.com. So, it's uh just if you can remember sleep trailer then you're then you're golden.

Cord 44:53

You'll find it that's right. That's right.

Jason Christensen 44:55

Especially lately because it's been having a lot of like different kind of things blowing up and people looking at it and talking about it. And it's been really cool to see this thing that you've been like you know you drew out on a sketch pad 10 years ago and now here you are getting invited on podcasts across the country to talk about it. Like what is this life? I don't know.

Cord 45:20

Well we are so happy to have you and uh and for those of you listening go and check out sleep trailer.com uh email Jason get in touch um look at his tick tock look at his Facebook because another thing he's great at is the thing that we all know that we need which is making great content and he is killing it at that he is entertaining while also uh while also doing good work and that I think is what we all want to do. So Jason thank you so much for being my guest today um and uh I'd really like to have you on hopefully we can make some connections and maybe in another you know year or six months or whatever that is um you know we can come on and touch base and uh hopefully we've helped to move this thing forward so thank you for being my guest today Jason.

Jason Christensen 46:08

Hey I appreciate you uh fighting with me to make it work because it was a scheduling nightmare for a while with all the sicknesses and no going around and my family so I

Cord 46:20

not at all is it was a pleasure uh a pleasure and look forward to doing it and uh and appreciate you for being on thank you to you thank you to the listeners and we will see you next time on another episode of the Shed Geek podcast

OUTRO 46:37

Thanks again Shed Pro for being the Shed Geek's studio sponsor. If you need any more information about Shed Pro or about Shed Geek just reach out. You can reach us by email at info@ shedgeek.com or just go to our website www.shedgeek.com and submit a form with your information and we'll be in contact right away thank you again for listening as always to today's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast thank you and have a blessed day