Tiny Home Village in Albuquerque is helping transition the homeless with social services and opportunities

Albuquerque THV / My Home Village, Ann Hermes

In the fight against the American homelessness epidemic, it pays to think outside the box. The Tiny Home Village in Albuquerque isn’t just a place to sleep in bad weather, it’s an occupational therapy project that helps homeless people reconnect with values ​​and responsibility.

Founded to foster a strong community, the power of routine, and a sense of pride in themselves and those around them, the Tiny Home Village (THV) hopes that its residents will be better prepared for them when they finally get off the streets .

Bernalillo, New Mexico, landed a 30-year lease on land for the Albuquerque Indian Center to build a walled and gated community of approximately 30 tiny houses with lockable doors and air conditioning to give residents a strong feeling of being Security and consistency that they could begin to really change their lives.

Albuquerque looked at a similar project in Oregon – the Opportunity Village Eugene, founded back in 2013 – as a model to encourage villagers to self-govern so they can decide for themselves how the village should be run day in, day out.

Rendering / Bernco.gov

The two look very similar. There are 30 houses in different colors on the site, but they all have the same floor plan: a desk, two chairs, a bed, a closet and a veranda.

The center of the THV is the “village house”, in which the residents cook, wash clothes, watch TV, socialize, use the internet and access a library.

“We are trying to give the villagers some tools that will really serve them well after they move out,” said Ilse Biel, the resource manager of the Albuquerque THV, to Christian Science Monitor.

Biel would add that the theory is already working and the community is taking on day-to-day tasks and holding each other accountable.

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“You are proud of the house; I’m really annoyed that a counter is not wiped down, a cigarette butt somewhere. “

The THV is a welcome replacement for the former homeless enclave Tent City, which developed near a railway in the city center and grew so large that people there began to write addresses of their tents on the streets.

Rendering / Bernco.gov

THV is not intended to be a place of refuge and the doors are not open to everyone.

Prospective residents must sign up for a $ 30 monthly utility fee and test all hard drugs. They must be sober at least 10 days prior to entry date and be willing and able to participate in village life, which requires them to undertake tasks such as weeding the communal vegetable garden, cleaning bathrooms, and more.

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Perhaps for these reasons THV is not yet full. But the managers are hopeful and believe that such a community needs to be more than just a roof over their heads, but a place where a person can make friends and gain the physical, mental, financial and professional strength to ensure that they re-enter society they are there to stay.

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