How Denver’s Tiny Home Village Empowers the Homeless
The Beloved Community in Denver is the city’s first tiny home village for the homeless. The village provides shelter for up to 22 residents (11 tiny homes), and is funded by community partners, private donors, and various organizations such as Urban Land Conservatory, Denver Homeless Outloud, and the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado.
The village, which will begin the 180 day pilot project this year, boasts a renovated circular tent for meals, a shower house, portable toilets, and a couple of gardens. The self-governed village will foster a sense of self empowerment and communal living for people who have long lived on the margins of society.
Denver Homeless Outloud aims to build two more villages by spring of 2018, providing housing for a total of 300 people without a home from all over the city.
Aside from receiving shelter, residents will be able to get back their confidence, feel part of a community, and feel at home in a safe environment.
49-year-old Jamiah Rawls, a transgender resident, feels the town should inspire the tiny-home-dwellers to feel empowered. “Homelessness should be comfortable. So that you feel confident enough that you can pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. And the system needs to give them some boots so they can pull themselves up.”
The village will offer residents their freedom and a comfortable space where they can rediscover themselves and their goals.
