In just 10 months of 2022, the Golden Triangle Homeless Coalition spent more than $30,000 to assist roughly 1,200 people.
John Davis, the organization’s treasurer, said this is up significantly from 2017 when the total cost was $1,775 for 83 people.
In an effort to curb homelessness, GTRHC wants to build a village of tiny homes in Columbus. On Wednesday night in an open forum at City Hall, organization leaders identified a piece of city-owned property where they would like to build it — a two-acre lot between Fire Station 4 and the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society on Airline Road.
Sandra DePriest, who sits on the board of directors for GTRHC, said the village will allow people who are homeless to become progressively independent and get back on their feet. This would expand on the apartments the coalition operates in east Columbus.
“We’re looking at a long-term plan, which was our vision from the get-go that we would have a homeless tiny home village,” DePriest said.
“If you’ve followed other communities and seen what they’ve been doing, it’s a wonderful community undertaking with a lot of involvement where we have tiny homes and allow people to stay in those tiny homes until they become progressively independent and help them get jobs. What we do, we’re not going to make a difference if we just continue to put a band-aid on.”
The land GTRHC has identified as a potential spot for the village once housed a mobile home park, so there is sewage and electric infrastructure already on site.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford, with Neel-Schaffer Engineering, is familiar with the property and is offering his services pro-bono to the coalition. He said the site is in a floodplain so dirt would need to be moved to elevate it.
Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Duane Hughes assured construction and operation of the village would not interfere with fire station operations.
Once the site is ready for construction, it will be set back from the road and feature a village of tiny homes outfitted with a fully functional bathroom, a bed, a kitchen with a stove top (but not an oven) and an area to eat. DePriest said the units are functional for one or two people and two tiny homes could work for a family, such as a single mother and her children.
Susan Garton, GTRHC president, said there will be a central building on the premises that will serve as a heating and cooling station, and laundry facilities will also be housed there. A small apartment for the GTRHC project manager will be built into the facility, so there will always be a representative from the coalition present.
GTRHC already has one house being built by a high school in Alabama that received a grant to create a tiny home and gift it to a nonprofit, DePriest said. There are also six donors who have dedicated money to the project once land is secure.
DePriest said without factoring the value of donated labor, the construction materials for one tiny home ran about $6,000 before the rise in lumber prices.
All other utility and rent expenses can be covered by Mississippi United to End Homelessness for the first year, and all of the homes would be free to stay in for the people needing to escape homelessness.
Mayor Keith Gaskin said the council must approve letting the coalition use city-owned land. That decision would include whether to sell, lease or outright donate it to the coalition.
Beyond that, the site plan would have to go through the planning and zoning process.
“I expect we will have this on the agenda before the month of January is over,” Gaskin said. “I’d like for the council to hear them out. … The council is aware this is a location ( GTRHC) is interested in, so the next step was to have some community input to get support for this location, if it is the right location, and then move forward from there.”
Julia Chavez of Saving Grace Mission attended Wednesday’s forum, and she voiced her support for the tiny home village.
“This is definitely needed in our community, and it’s been a long time coming,” Chavez said. “We just really need it desperately.”
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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 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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