The presently disclosed invention relates to emergency housing units and methods of providing emergency shelter, where the emergency housing units comprising a shipping container, a front wall disposed at the front side having a door, a canopy pivotally connected to one of the shipping container and the front wall at a location adjacent to both a top portion of the shipping container and the front wall, the canopy able to pivot from a closed retracted position to an open extended position, and a canopy latch attached to the first gate and the second gate, the canopy latch engaging with the canopy and releasably lockably fixing the canopy and both gates in a fixed position relative to one another and preventing the gates from moving into a closed position.