Vancouver tiny home community ready to welcome families struggling with housing and homelessness

The cottages sit next to the men’s group house and will begin welcoming families in the next couple of weeks.

“The idea was that perhaps the bridge between homelessness and apartment rent is a bridge too far,” Nick Campos said. “But having a group home environment where (people) can graduate from a tiny home to eventually their own apartment to hopefully homeownership is a wonderful gift that can be given to a community.”

The units are available to people who make 30 percent or less of the median area income — about $2,000 a month. Families should also have to meet Washington’s definition of homelessness. The rent at the O Street property will fall anywhere between $200 to $800, depending on a resident’s income. The property is also solar-powered, which will reduce electricity costs for residents.

The tiny-homes community aims to break the cycle of homelessness by linking residents with XChange Recovery Services. The nonprofit has been providing case management to residents of the men’s house for the past year.

Vicky Smith, co-founder of XChange Recovery, said that the nonprofit has already started to receive applications for the family homes and expects more to come in through referrals and community interest once word gets out that the community is now open.

“Everybody’s going to come in here differently,” Smith said. “So we will meet them where they are at.”

One of those case managers will be Adam Atchinson, who has been featured in previous Columbian articles. He lived in one of Vancouver’s Safe Stay shelters before moving into the men’s house at O Street. Atchinson will now help others make strides in their lives.

“To be on the other side of everything, it’s such a relief. I never thought I’d be doing something like this (outreach and case work), but it feels so good to do it and it’s going to make an impact,” Atchinson said.

At the Thursday event, Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle praised a property tax renewed by Vancouver voters last year that raises $100 million over 10 years for affordable-housing development and preservation, temporary shelters, homelessness prevention, and rental and homeownership assistance. The O Street property received $850,000 from that tax.

“The fund is a vital tool in helping affordable housing. We want to use it to ensure that people who are in danger of losing their homes, can keep them or we can provide them a home,” McEnerny-Ogle said.

A grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce covered about two-thirds of the project, said Dan Whitley, president of Community Roots.

“This is a big win for Southwest Washington,” he said.

Wolf Industries Inc. manufactured the tiny homes at its Battle Ground factory and then placed them at O Street with a crane. According to Community Roots Collaborative, it cost about $200,000 for the construction and permits to each unit.

“It’s difficult to build an apartment in Clark County for under $350,000 so we feel really happy,” said Peggy Sheehan, executive director of Community Roots.

NW Furniture Bank furnished two of the units. Community Roots has formed a partnership with the nonprofit, which will take donations to help continue furnishing units.

Looking out at the gathered crowd at O Street on Thursday, Campos emphasized that the project reflects how Clark County residents take care of one another.

“And that’s a beautiful gift,” Campos said.