In the hopes of addressing the growing number of homeless people in the United States, a brand new tiny house village in Los Angeles opens its doors to give shelter to street dwellers.
The statistic shows that more than half a million or at least 0.2% of the entire U.S. population go homeless. This is why the tiny house community called "Chandler Boulevard Bridge Home Village" opened 40 units homeless people call home and help them start a new life.
From Streets to Tiny Homes
This is the chandler street tiny home village which opened in north Hollywood earlier this month , the village has 40... Posted by Travas Beardsworth on Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Through the collaboration of Lehrer Architects and the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, the tiny house village managed by Faith-based nonprofit Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission transformed a half-acre awkward infill lot in North Hollywood into a small community for the homeless persons.
In just 13 weeks, the team constructed the village consist of prefabricated modular tiny homes and an entire community complete with dining spaces, laundry facilities, secure storage, a pet play area, and on-site mental health support services.
In a press release, the lead architectural group described the project as a "model of how to enhance a community by caring for its most vulnerable residents with dignity through design."
Lehrer Architects founding partner Michael B. Lehrer told Architect's Newspaper: "Our focus was to honor, nurture and restore a modicum of wholeness and delight to our fellow citizens without homes."
"Every move is conceived to add significant value and be cost-neutral: in that vein, color is used extensively to create a sense of community and places of respect, dignity and joy," he added.
The tiny house village was built within an unused lot, which has been abandoned due to its odd measurement. The team created a masterplan that could fit small homes into the awkward lot to house street dwellers in L.A.
Amenities
Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission founder and CEO Ken Craft gave online users a quick virtual tour of the Chandler Boulevard tiny house village. In the nearly 5-minute YouTube video, you'll see how the team created a humble community that can accommodate more than 40 future residents.
The tiny house village, which opened earlier this month, consists of 64 square feet of living space complete with two beds, heat and air conditioning, a small desk, shelving, and a front door with a lock system.
The gated community also offers a shared shower area, bathroom, laundry services, and on-site meal, all free of pf charge.
Office staff is also present in the village to accommodate residents with housing questions. The team could even entertain mental health services, access to job opportunities, and training within the city to help them get out of homelessness.
Once they have established their lives, the community will help the residents to find permanent housing.
A second tiny home village is expected to open in North Hollywood in April. The new village will have the same amenities and services but a bigger community with 100 units home to 200 more street dwellers.
