Big problems sometimes need tiny solutions. A project in Ontario, Canada, is hoping that tiny homes will be the answer to help people without housing transition away from life on the streets.
As CBC detailed, 16 tiny homes will be installed in Thunder Bay, with a further 50 expected to be delivered at other locations in the near future. The first residents at the 212 Miles St. East site could move in as early as August.
Nicole Latour, executive director of Alpha Court Community Mental Health and Addiction Services, noted that one of the problems with the current rehousing model is stripping away the sense of community established among unhoused people.
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Definitely 🙁 By sending them to apartments spread out across the city, they are losing the support and connection among their peers that has provided comfort for so long.
"We're finding that that's not working for everybody, that we needed to look outside of the box and introduce a new model to the community," Latour told CBC.
The 16 homes will be equipped with a bathroom, kitchen, and a sleeping area, helping to protect unhoused people from the city's harsh weather conditions. On-site support will also be available to get people back into work or recover from addiction.
It's a demonstration of the power of tiny homes. They can be built quickly and cheaply, making them ideal for temporary housing to get people off the streets or shelter displaced people who've lost homes following extreme weather events.
Even if not facing such hardship, more people are discovering that tiny homes can provide a cheap, sustainable lifestyle while not taking up too much space or draining too many resources. For example, smaller interior spaces don't need a lot of energy for heating, cooling, and illumination, which can significantly reduce energy bills. If paired with renewable energy generated by solar panels, you could even avoid these monthly invoices for good.
Similar projects to the Thunder Bay community have been springing up across Canada, with CBC pointing to developments in Peterborough and Nova Scotia.
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