A Village of 15 Tiny Houses Designed for Homeless Veterans Just Opened in a Canadian City
and it charges veterans $600 a month to live there until they get back on their feet
By Libertina Brandt
A village of tiny homes for Canadian veterans in Calgary was opened to the public on October 28 and to tenants on November 1.
The project is led by the Homes for Heroes Foundation and provides homes and services to homeless veterans looking to get back on their feet.
Dave Howard, the president and cofounder of the Homes for Heroes Foundation, told Business Insider that the foundation hopes to build 20 of these tiny villages across Canada.
Residents have to pay $600 a month in rent. According to Howard, those who need time and help accessing funding are not expected to pay rent until they have access.
Each home — there are 15 in total — includes a full kitchen, a breakfast bar and workstation, a full bathroom, and a living area with a sofa and a Murphy bed.
On October 28, a village of tiny homes for homeless veterans was unveiled in Calgary, a city of 1.5 million inhabitants in Alberta, Canada.
The project, an initiative led by the Homes for Heroes Foundation, provides homes and services to homeless Canadian veterans looking to get back on their feet.
Dave Howard, the president and cofounder of the Homes for Heroes Foundation, told Business Insider that the foundation met with over 200 veterans across Canada to get an understanding of what type of program they thought would work.
"They said, 'Look, we want to come into a program, not just a house, and get help with things we're working on,'" Howard told Business Insider.
The goal of the project, Howard explained, is to have the veterans move in, get help, get back on their feet, get a job, move out, and then come back and mentor the next veterans coming in. There is no limit to how long each veteran can live in the village.
"For some, it could be 14 months and for others, it could be up to three years. It really depends on their program," Howard told Business Insider.
Residents pay $600 a month for access to a tiny home and a range of resources
Along with 15 tiny homes, the village also includes a resource center, a counselor's office, a family suite, and community gardens.
Village residents have special, customized programs that are created specifically for their needs. They are given access to a variety of services that include mentoring, case management, and counseling.
According to Howard, there is a counselor on-site who works 9 to 5, and a health and wellness center, operated by the charity The Mustard Seed, in downtown Calgary that the residents have full access to.
Each tiny home spans 275 square feet. The homes were built by ATCO, a Calgary-based global provider of integrated energy, housing, transportation, and infrastructure solutions.
Each home includes a full kitchen, a breakfast bar and workstation, a full bathroom, and a living area with a sofa and a Murphy bed.
Inside one of the tiny homes.
Homes for Heroes Foundation
Howard explained that the tiny homes were made at ATCO's warehouse before being delivered to the site. On November 1, tenants were able to move in — and all 15 homes were filled.
In order to live there, veterans have to fill out an application and complete a needs analysis. Howard told Business Insider that the spaces are offered to those the foundation believes will have success in the program. The residents are also expected to pay $600 a month in rent. According to Howard, those who need time and help accessing funding are not expected to pay rent until they have access.
Howard told Business Insider that the rent covers all of the social services: PTSD counseling and education, medical, and employment services. The $600 also covers home expenses: heat, water, phone, internet, and security.
For comparison, the average price of renting a one-bedroom home in Calgary is $1,576. The average price of a one-bedroom apartmentrental in Calgary is $1,156.
The tiny-home movement is expanding globally
This tiny-home project is just one of many around the world.
While some people have downsized into tiny homes to save moneyor as a means to travel the world freely, the movement is also spawning tiny-home resorts and communities. Even Amazon is cashing in on the trend with $7,000 tiny-home kits that can be assembled in just eight hours.
The Homes for Heroes Foundation plans to build 20 tiny-home villages for veterans across Canada. Currently, the organization is working on a second village in Edmonton — another city in Alberta, Canada.
And Business Insider's Katie Canales previously reported about a similar program in Austin, Texas called the Community First Village. The Community First Village, Canales explained, is an $18 million tiny-home village that houses 180 formerly homeless Austin residents. Along with housing, the project includes on-site programs and employment opportunities for its residents.
Have you lived in a tiny-home community and have a story to share? Email this reporter at lbrandt@businessinsider.com or find her on Twitter at @BrandtLibertina.
Source/Article: https://www.businessinsider.com/tiny-home-village-for-homeless-veterans-calgary-canada-2019-11
