Tiny home village for homeless veterans comes to Pierce County
A tiny home village in the Puyallup Valley soon will provide housing to dozens of Washington’s homeless veterans.
Next spring, 35 veterans will move into brand new tiny homes on the 181-acre campus of the Washington Soldiers Home in Orting.
A 2019 count of the people experiencing homelessness in Pierce County found that at least 9 percent, or about 134 people, were veterans
The project is lead by Quixote Communities, a nonprofit with a similar community in Olympia and another in the works in Shelton.
“This is not the answer to homelessness, but it is an answer for homelessness,” said Jaycie Osterberg of Quixote Communities.
Osterberg, the noprofit’s executive director, said most residents stay in a village for about three years, and for most that is the longest they’ve spent in one place. She said the tiny home villages provide residents with permanent housing and a fulfilling sense of community.
“We really see people developing long-lasting relationships in our community,” Osterberg said. “It isn’t like a regular apartment complex where you never see most of your neighbors, this is their place, it’s their community, and there is a great sense of peer support.”
The Orting Veterans Village will have 35, 180-square-foot tiny homes and a 2,500-square-foot community center when it opens in March 2021. Each home comes with a living space and a bathroom with a shower — an upgrade from Quixote Communities’ existing village in Olympia. The community center will house the residents’ kitchen and dining area, recreational area and the staff office.
The village will provide housing to homeless veterans who live in Pierce County. They must go through a background check and drug-screening process. Potential residents cannot have outstanding warrants or a recent history of violence.
Residents are admitted to the village through a need-based list, meaning higher risk veterans will be higher on the list.
Once accepted into the village, residents will pay 30% of their income as rent and sign a lease agreement saying they will abide by village rules — including a drug- and alcohol-free policy.
The nonprofit provides residents with everything they might need for their new home, including a bed, a desk and chair and a welcome basket with linens, pillows and blankets. Most of the items are donated or offered to the community at a reduced price. Osterberg says the support from local businesses has been instrumental in putting the finishing touches on the new homes.
Quixote Communities broke ground on the new community in October 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the official opening. Osterberg says COVID-19 caused the cost of construction to increase, and the time frame was affected by quarantine measures.
Osterberg said the Orting village will be a product of what the group has learned from its village in Olympia, which opened in 2013.
“It’ll be modeled after that one, but we’ve learned a lot over the years to streamline our village,” Osterberg said. “The showers in the homes are one big thing the residents in Olympia asked for.”
Just like their Olympia community, the Orting village will have a property manager and full-time case manager to help residents with anything they might need, from applying for health insurance to finding transportation.
The Orting village will also have an Americorps Volunteer in Service to America member, Hanna Bailey.
Bailey’s job is to increase community involvement and expand the volunteer network of Quixote Communities. One of her major efforts has been to organize painting parties to paint the new homes.
“We’ve had donated paint and volunteers come to paint the cottages because that sort of thing wasn’t in our budget,” Osterberg said.
Because of new restrictions on gatherings, Osterberg said, they won’t be able to hold events but they plan to figure out a way for volunteers to come in shifts to get the homes finished and painted.
Funding for the Orting village is provided to Quixote Communities from the Washington State Housing Trust Fund, Pierce County, the Federal Home Loan Bank, the United Way and the Housing Authority of Pierce County.
Quixote Communities estimates it can fully furnish each tiny home for $1,500. The entire village will cost about $4.7 million to complete.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
