Leon Longard has spent a lot of time over the years working with people who are homeless.
He used to be an outreach advocate at Food 4 Souls, a faith-based organization, where he went into homeless camps with food. He was interested in finding housing solutions.
“All the time we were doing this, people kept bringing up this tiny house thing,” Longard said. “I thought, well, that’s interesting.”
Longard started Circle City Village, a collective of pastors, social workers, architects and other professionals, as well as people who are formerly homeless.
The group is trying to build a tiny home community on the northwest side. It recently cleared its biggest hurdle when the city approved a zoning appeal, and construction could start by the end of this year.
The community will include 18 homes with a kitchenette, three-quarters bathroom and utilities. There will also be a community center, garden and maybe a park.
Longard said he wants people to be able to live there as long as they need to feel stabilized and then move on to other housing. He guessed that means most people will end up living at the community for less than two years.
Bryant Smith, a behavioral therapist, is part of Circle City Village. He was homeless in Indianapolis from the ages of 17 to 22 and knows the plight of extreme poverty and hopelessness.
“Mentally, physically, emotionally, at every point it can be devastating,” he said. “There’s people that I still see on the street that was homeless when I was homeless.”
There were 1,588 people who were homeless in January 2020 when the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) did its annual count. A little more than half were African American.
CHIP conducted its 2021 count in January, but data typically isn’t released until late spring or summer.
Circle City Village, as long as everything goes according to plan, will help some people out of homelessness. The plan is to implement a “community fee” that’s equal to 10% of a resident’s income (but not more than $150) to help with utilities and maintenance.
The question is whether tiny home villages are a real solution to homelessness and worthwhile venture.
There are already other examples around the country. It’s an especially popular idea in the northwest in states such as Washington and Oregon, and Longard said Circle City Village has considered those models in its own development.
There are also other tiny home projects that are either operational or in the works in Indiana, including in Muncie and Camby.
One of the main reasons the team at Circle City Village believes its tiny home community is a sustainable, long-term solution to homelessness is it offers stability that goes beyond that of a shelter with other support services.
“I do truly believe in my heart that this tiny house community will provide upward dignity to anyone who’s able to live there and call it home,” said Breana Rothrock, another member of Circle City Village who also leads a program at Wheeler Mission to help women receive training and work experience.
Plus, it’s more cost-effective than traditional housing. The high-end estimate for cost per home is $32,500, but Longard expects that to decrease after factoring in donations and volunteer labor.
Steve Berg, vice president of programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the efficacy of a tiny home village depends on how tiny the homes actually are — if you can even call it a home.
When some people talk about tiny homes, they might be referring to what basically amounts to a small shed with a bed. In this case, Circle City Village’s project more closely resembles the traditional tiny home: a smaller living space, but a home nonetheless.
What people usually think of as housing — apartments, single-family homes, etc. — is simply too expensive, Berg said, so any solution needs to include cheaper ways to provide affordable housing.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
