Golden Triangle Homeless Coalition members are hopeful to see residents moving into the Fresh Start Tiny Home Village on Airline Road by next spring, though the organization still needs roughly $160,000 to make it happen.
Project Director and board member Sandra DePriest said the coalition is relying on community support to close that gap.
“We are doing individual contacts with people who have been our supporters, or people in the community who we know are caring and willing to help us land this plane (and) bring this project to a successful conclusion,” DePriest told The Dispatch on Tuesday.
Those appeals have quickly begun to bring in donations, most between $500 and $1,000, and coalition President Susan Garton is optimistic the project needs will be met.
“It’s still very early in these requests,” Garton said. “… We are so hopeful that they will help us fill this need (and) help us achieve our main mission of our organization which is that every man, woman and child deserves shelter.”
Work on the two-acre tiny home village began last year, Since then, all 10 homes, along with an administrative building and laundry facility, have been delivered and set in place. Plumbing and electrical systems are ready, and DePriest said she hopes the remaining interior work will be finished by the end of January.
The village includes six two-person homes, two family units that can house up to four people and two disability-accessible units.
Once operational, the homes will provide three- to six -month transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness in Lowndes County. During their stay, residents will receive help with job applications, interviews, GED training and access to a computer bank. They will also be required to volunteer in the community.
“This is not a handout,” Garton said. “This is a hand up. We’re trying to help you, and in return I want you to help your community because this community has helped you, has helped build this. They’re going to volunteer, and that’s our big thing is (giving) back.”
‘Everyone deserves shelter’
To open the doors, the coalition still needs about $60,000 for interior work and another $100,000 for roadwork, sidewalks, landscaping and a pavilion.
So far, the project has received $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors gave the coalition in 2023, along with $19,000 from 100+ Women Who Care Columbus, another $48,000 donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and two other $12,000 donations from private donors, among other donations.
The city of Columbus donated the land to the homeless coalition in March 2023.
The Mississippi State University Landscape Architecture Department is partnering with the coalition on landscaping design, and DePriest is hopeful the plants themselves will be donated.
Even if landscaping comes later, Garton said it will not delay move-in.
“Landscaping would not be a (hindrance) to the project,” she said. “It’s just something to make them feel at home, like they matter and we want something nice for them. That’s something really important. … A lot of them don’t feel clean. They don’t feel worthy, and this is to really give them back their dignity. … Shelters don’t do that.”
Garton hopes to see the project completed by May, at which point the coalition will begin accepting applications for residency.
Garton said the project aims to put an end to both consecutive and episodic homelessness in the community.
“We have about 12 consecutively homeless individuals right now,” Garton said. “… They’re not staying at people’s homes. They’re not staying in a hotel. They are legitimately sleeping in vehicles.”
She noted that many more people in the community are episodically homeless, cycling between temporary stays with family or friends and periods on the street.
“I want people off the streets,” Garton said. “Everyone deserves shelter.”
Community members can donate to the project through the GTRHC Facebook or by mailing a check to the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition, P.O. Box 303, 39703.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
