Madison builds tiny houses for homeless: could it work here?

[sheclown]

Housing for the homeless 10pm 8/5/13

Posted: Monday, August 5, 2013 --- 8:50pm

Madison resident Betty Ybarra has never owned a home, but that'll soon change.

"I was very skeptical this could even happen" she tells NBC15 about her new home she's currently helping to build through an Occupy Madison project.

The group is currently building small homes. It isn't much. Each are about 100 square feet. But it's enough to help someone get back on their feet.

"It'll be small. It'll be like living in a door room, but it's much better than living in a tent outside" Brenda Konkel with Occupy Madison

Each house takes between 1 to 2 months to build and costs about $4 thousand. The project is made possible thanks to donations.

"They'll all have a refrigerator, a microwave. There may be wood heat in there as well as electric heat" Konkel says.

Once finished, Ybarra will move into the home she's working on. Her only requirement was to help build the house she'll be living in.

"It really gives people a sense of pride and dignity and a place to live" Konkel says.

For some, the home will be a stepping stone, For others, it'll be a permanent place. But for all, it's a sign of hope

'Just don't give up" says Ybarra.

Occupy Madison plans to build 10 tiny houses in the first year. Their ultimate goal is to have a piece of land where they can park around 30 of them.

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Group-builds-tiny-homes-for-local-homeless-218449881.html

[Dapperdan]

Brilliant idea. Maybe they can even take the house with them when they get back on their feet and pay off the 4K costs.

[mbwright]

1-2 months seems like a long time to build a 10 x 10 structure.  I think the writer meant dorm room, rather than door room.

[JayBird]

I love the idea, however the fight with the city to allow it ... 100 sq ft is really small. I would assume bathroom/shower facilities are some kind of group arrangement or separate bldg?

Back in 2009 I was on a panel with Catholic Charities that was going to purchase 20 of the Redell Drive homes and use them as transient housing for single parent families that were living in shelters ... The city at the time squashed that idea immediately. But even these new micro apartments in NYC are around 285 sq ft.

[JayBird]

Thanks for posting SheClown, I had not heard of this before. Some more info:

A homeless prevention group in Madison has begun building tiny houses on wheels that they hope will eventually become part of a homeless village.

Listen
The Occupy Madison Tiny House Project is modeled on a similar effort in Portland, Ore. There, organizers were able to lease of piece of land and build several one-room homes to form a village. Members of Occupy Madison hope to do the same.

This week, the first tiny house in Madison rolls off the assembly line at a garage workshop on the city's east side. Bruce Walbaum, one of many who helped build it, says it measures about 100 square feet made mostly of old warehouse pallet boards. He says ideally, the home will include an electric outlet so the residents can plug in a small refrigerator, a microwave, and a toaster oven.

"We've have also partnered with the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering," says Walbaum. "They're providing a small photovoltaic solar electric system that will allow for minimal lighting. There's also a composting toilet inside and that requires a small amount of voltage for venting."

The tiny house is built on wheels because under a city ordinance it must be moved every 48 hours. Construction supervisor says he hopes that's only a temporary situation.

"We don't anticipate moving a dozen houses every 48 hours," he says. "We anticipate we might have to move two or three before either land becomes available or the church option becomes available."

Several Madison churches have expressed interest in allowing some of the homes to be placed in their parking lots. Four homeless people have already signed up for two of the homes and have each already put in more than 200 hours of sweat labor in helping build them.

http://m.news.wpr.org/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#mobile/25192

[Garden guy]

Great idea for the homeless, or very poor..but id perfer to use shipping container..cheaper and a litte larger..

[mtraininjax]

Business week did a story on people in Japan living in these types of containers behind store fronts, as a way for the stores to make extra money. Basically a 10 x 10 room. Touching story, but these are only meant as temporary, not permanent.

With all the empty buildings the city has, and takes over, why not look to incorporate solutions with what we have in place, instead of building new ones? Of course this requires resources and thinking, two items which normally escape our great city. Of course, there is also NIMBY, but when there is no one in the BY, why not go and build it.