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TINY home villages have become a popular solution for homelessness around the US.
In Madison, Wisconsin, there is an especially high homeless population and no place for them to sleep outside.
“We have hundreds of homeless in Madison, some say up to as many as 2,000,” Luca Clemente, co-president of the OM Village Board of Directors said to Joppa.
“It’s a major, major problem. There’s no place legally for people to sleep at night in Madison.”
Like many cities around the country, it is technically illegal to set up a place to sleep overnight in public in Madison.
Thus, the OM Village was created to give people a roof over their heads to sleep without the risk of being punished for it.
Clemente said the hope was that the tiny home village would create a community of support so that with a safe, warm place to stay people would be in a better position to get a job.
In many cases, like that of Russel Albers, it worked very well.
“This is my permanent home as of right now,” Albers said.
The village promotes a safe environment for the community surrounding it and the residents who live within it.
“We don’t allow drinking, storing alcohol, using drugs, prostitution, stealing, robbery, weapons,” Albers said.
“No swearing, no yelling. We have a misconduct policy.”
The neighbors in the area appreciate how respectful and safe the tiny home village is operated. They were labeled as quiet and not a bother by many, and some even claimed the community boosted property values.
“I was initially opposed to it, since it was a knee-jerk reaction. Kind of a ‘not in my backyard’ kind of thing,” a neighbor said.
“After I’ve seen what they’ve done, it’s a beautiful thing and I like it.”
Management and residents of OM Village felt that they were starting a movement to make their city safer while giving those in need a chance to get back on their feet.
“I can go to work and come home, and I’m home with my new family,” Albers said.
“I love it.”
