Mākhers Studio was founded in 2017 by Wanona Satcher with the goal of addressing the housing crisis in mind, according to Good Good Good. With her background in urban design and landscape architecture, Satcher was familiar with the hurdles people faced in finding affordable and equitable housing.
Amid a housing crisis where fewer people can find decent homes they can afford, Satcher decided to fill in the gaps by creating what she calls Plug-In-Pods. Plug-In-Pods are affordable tiny homes created out of recycled shipping containers that can be placed almost anywhere there's a need.
Satcher and her team — which includes her Marine Corps veteran husband, women, local veterans, and more — create custom-designed units out of shipping containers from localized supply chains that can function as tiny homes, classrooms, and health clinics.
One key point of these customized units is the materials used to create them. As Satcher explained to WABE, "It's not just about building a supply of housing. It's also about the kind of materials that you build with, and we know that especially in public housing those materials have not been healthy."
As such, Mākhers Studio builds its Plug-In-Pods in an eco-conscious way that makes them both sustainable and resilient. Mākhers reinforces the shipping containers with metal, steel, and alternative insulation, such as hemp, to keep them energy-efficient. The company also uses low-VOC paints to reduce health risks and improve indoor air quality.
Using shipping containers helps the environment, too. For example, the use of a 40-foot-long shipping container equates to roughly four tons of steel recycled and nearly a 50% reduction in waste ending up in landfills compared to traditional construction, according to Good Good Good.
One community that Mākhers Studio has helped immensely thus far is the veteran community experiencing homelessness. The studio has gotten attention and requests from veteran organizations and, as a result, has made not only homes for veterans to live in but also community spaces to help them heal.
While tiny home living isn't for everyone, these minute homes can offer plenty of benefits. Besides being more affordable than traditional housing, they also have less environmental impact due to their size. Some owners find themselves less wasteful after living in a tiny home, too, since there is less room for possessions.
Tiny homes also mean smaller bills, as these types of homes use far fewer resources than typical houses, so people living in them save on energy and water.
For now, Satcher will continue making Plug-In-Pods for veterans, single parents, and other vulnerable and oftentimes marginalized communities in the hopes of at least making a dent in the affordable housing crisis.
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Definitely 🙁 As she told 2X Global, "Affordable housing is one of the most critical components of an equitable community."
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