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Tiny Homes, Big Lifestyle Change
Posted by Jeremy Thompson
Categories: Custom Homes, Disaster Management, New Construction, Restoration
Thinkingof jumpingonthe “tiny home” bandwagon?
Youmight want to think again. While tiny homes seem
like agreat concept intheory withtheir cute designs and
smaller ecological footprint, the reality of the tiny home
is not so appealingto most homeowners.
InaToday.comarticle, LeahAtwood, the owner of a
tiny home andfounder of astartupworkingto create a
village of tiny homes, says “A lot of people romanticize
it but the truthis, youhave to recognize the challenges,
difficulties andhardchoices that go alongwiththis
lifestyle. Inmy experience, some people canhandle it
andsome people can’t.”
Some of the challenges she mentions are givingupentertaining(she canonly invite two
people over at atime), andshe also says owningvery fewpossessions is astruggle for most
since youcantruly only ownabout one of anything(one pair of shoes, one fork, etc.).
KristinMoeller, another tiny home owner interviewedfor the Today.comarticle, says the
lifestyle is not sustainable for most. “It’s like writingabook. Ninety percent of people say
they want to do it, but only about 5 percent actually will.” She admits there must be azero
tolerance policy for clutter inatiny home, andlivingwithher husbandcanbe challenging
insuchtight quarters. She recounts one instance where she wantedto write, but she was
distractedby listeningto her husbandtalk onthe phone.
While tiny homes may not suit most people’s livingstyle, arecent story out of Huntsville,
Alabamashows the homes may prove promisingto serve agreater need…..housingfor the
homeless. The fraternity members of Phi KappaPsi at the University of Alabamain
Huntsville (UAH)planto create atiny home village to house homeless vets. The village
will consist of tiny mobile houses of less than500 square feet, asharedgardento be
maintainedby residents andacommunity center. Eachtiny home costs about $5000 to
build, andone acre of landcansupport about 30 tiny homes. Other organizations across
the worldhave startedsimilar projects, andthe concept (similar to the ideaof 3Dprinting
houses for the homeless)seems acost-effective way to provide housingfor the less
fortunate.
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23. Alabama Change Region
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By Steve Doyle | sdoyle@al.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on November 20, 2014 at 9:31 AM
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Nicky Beale has a big idea to build tiny houses for Huntsville's homeless.
And it's quickly becoming reality. Volunteers brought together by a shared passion to improve living conditions for the homeless
gathered near Hampton Cove on Wednesday to build that first of 30 planned tiny homes.
With no electricity, running water or toilet, the one-room houses would hardly be considered fancy.
But for homeless folks like Jack, a Navy veteran who has been sleeping in the woods around Huntsville since October 2011, a sturdy roof
and a front door that locks are small miracles.
"This is solid walls, so you won't have critters getting into it," said Jack. "It's also warmer, and I won't have to worry about mold and
mildew ruining my clothes.
"It's just a bunch of nice stuff getting into one of these."
Beale's Foundations for Tomorrow group chose Jack, 54, as the first tiny homes resident. He will move into one of two houses being
constructed this week; the other will be driven around on a flatbed trailer to educate people on the "tiny homes" concept.
One very large question remains unanswered for now: Where will the tiny homes call home?
Beale, a Redstone Arsenal employee stirred to action after reading about the closing of Huntsville's "Tent City" homeless camp
in June, is determined to create an entire tiny village -- 30 backyard tool shed-sized homes, bathhouse and communal garden squished
onto a single acre.
Similar villages already exist in Eugene, Ore., Olympia, Wash., and a handful of other cities.
Beale is hoping Huntsville leaders will not only bless the project but provide the land.
"Our criteria is just that the houses have to be close to public transportation and (homeless) service providers," she told AL.com
Wednesday. "The city has some land off Clinton Avenue that we've been talking to them about using."
Beale's passion to provide the homeless with safe, affordable, pint-sized transitional housing - each unit will measure about 150 square
feet -- has become contagious. As her tiny homes idea made the rounds on Facebook, the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, subdivision developer
Angela Mokhtari, CrossRoads Building Supply and others hopped on board.
Taylor Reed, president of the Phi Kappa Psi chapter at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, said the fraternity was looking to "get
'Tiny homes' the size of backyard tool sheds could be big gift to Huntsville's homeless
1 / 18
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24. Tiny homes for homeless hit snag; Huntsville officials concerned about lack of toilets, electricity
University of Virginia suspends all campus fraternal groups amid investigation into reported gang rape
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our hands dirty" with a meaningful community service project.
Tiny homes offered the perfect outlet.
Reed and his fraternity brothers - many of them engineering majors - designed the houses and hope to raise $10,000 for the project
through crowdsourcing. Supporters had pledged more than $6,500 as of Thursday morning. Click here if you would like to donate.
"We wanted to do something different, something deeper," said Reed. "Phi Kappa Psi was founded on the great joy of serving others.
We've kind of taken that to heart."
Mokhtari, who is developing the Villas at Timbers Edge neighborhood near Hampton Cove, provided the job site for Wednesday's tiny
house raising and brought in two expert carpenters to lead the volunteer effort. She also connected Beale with Melaina Laroux of
CrossRoads Building Supply, which agreed to donate the lumber, vinyl siding, shingles, doors and windows for all 30 planned tiny homes.
The donated materials are valued at up to $60,000.
"We have some overstock," Laroux said Wednesday. "Instead of those things just collecting dust, we thought it would be an awesome
opportunity to get it out there and help somebody."
Each tiny home will have a bed, well-insulated paneled walls, front porch and locker for storing valuables. Beale hopes to add solar power
later.
Jack and other future tiny homes residents won't be given a free ride. Those with an income will pay a small monthly rent - likely no
more than $50, said Beale. Others will have to earn their keep by tending the community garden, mowing grass or cleaning the showers.
"They'll either be putting into the community through their hands or through their funds," said Beale, 32.
Rusty Loiselle, founder of Help Our Homeless Veterans and Citizens, said tiny homes won't erase homelessness in Huntsville.
"But it's a step up the ladder," he said Wednesday. "These guys right now are living in cardboard boxes and tents and under bridges.
This will just give them a little more peace of mind."
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Fraternity Bros Plan To Build Micro-Homes To Shelter Struggling
Veterans
The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity from the University of Hunstville
Alabama is doing a whole lotta good, or at least they’re trying to.
After encounters with the city’s many homeless people, most of them
veterans, the fraternity wanted to find a way to give back. Seeing
their heroes struggling, living in the woods and on the streets, was not
sitting well with them. Their response?Foundations for Tomorrow.
Foundations for Tomorrow is the fraternity’s new initiative to build
tiny mobile homes for homeless veterans. 30 homes can be built on
just 1 acre of land. Fraternity members have identified several plots of
land in the city that they can acquire for these tiny home
communities. The Alabama Center for Sustainable Energy is even
providing solar panels for the homes so energy is cost-free. Living,
eating, working, gardening, and just sharing better quality lives
together is all the fraternity wants for the homeless.
Read more and see more pictures
Webofgoodnews.com
Source: inspiremore.com
#goodnews #cool story #gooddeeds #kindness
#helpingothers #helpingthehomeless #fraternity
#university of huntsville #huntsville #alabama #buildinghomes
#huildinghouses
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26. *On Nov. 3rd
this story aired on NewsDepth. “NewsDepth is an award-winning instructional program
that uses the news to connect Ohio third through eighth graders to the Common Core.