A COUPLE tackling homelessness have converted their backyard into a tiny neighborhood with just one rule for residents.

Their tiny home village offers hope for those in need as authorities remove homeless encampments in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mark Colville and Luz Catarineau have built six prefabricated houses all under 100 square feet in their backyard in Amistad.

The couple has welcomed people since the pandemic, allowing those struggling to pay rent or find a suitable place to sleep to set up camp somewhere safer than the streets.

Plans then evolved when the couple decided to build the prefabricated homes which saw residents move to the Rosette Street community garden behind the couple’s home as building went underway.

However, though Colville has now finished interviewing residents to decide who should be placed in the new homes, the rules around living there are rather unusual.

Most homeless shelters enforce pet bans, curfews, and other rules such as no outside visitors, but the new tiny home village is different.

“If you wanna be in a tiny home, come be in this community and show us that you belong in one,” Coleville told the New Haven Independent.

“We’re here to be neighbors,” he added.

“So if the neighbors start complaining, we have to enforce the rules.”

Rules are adopted on an as-needed basis but the couple has moved people on for anti-social and illegal behavior which was reported by neighbors such as openly selling drugs and having loud parties.

Suki Godek lived in a homeless encampment that was bulldozed by authorities but six months ago she managed to find shelter and help at Amistad.

Along with other residents and volunteers, Godek helped construct the tiny homes by clearing the yard and preparing the foundations.

She and her husband hope to be chosen to move into the new homes.

“It’s been a little stressful but it was awesome because it brought all of us who hadn’t spent a lot of time with each other together,” she said of the building process.

The sense of community has strengthened bonds and has seen Godek and her husband get to know their neighbors.

Godek’s partner regularly mows the grass of a number of their neighbors and she said: “There’s a lady a couple doors down who saves all her bottles for me.”

“That’s what’s different from being homeless on a park bench, where people just act like you’re not even there,” she said.

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“If we’re one of the lucky people that get a tiny home, I’ll be overjoyed.”

For $20,650 per unit, the couple and generous volunteers and donors have managed to offer residents free shelters with beds, lockable doors, heating, and other safety features.

Four of the tiny homes are for single occupants and are just 64 square feet.

The other two are doubles and have fold-up bunk beds and are 100 square feet each.

Jason Marrone was moved on from his encampment near Metro-North train tracks after authorities dismantled the site.

The 42-year-old is a candidate for one of the units and told the news outlet: “I’ve just never seen this before – I’ve never seen people doing things for one another like this.

“I’ve never seen people go this far for homeless people.”

However, the new residents may be facing bigger challenges as the village is not in line with city regulations and has received criticism from the Mayor.

Mayor Justin Elicker told the news outlet that Colville should not have built the tiny home village without further consultation with the city planning department which had already contacted him.

City Plan Department Executive Director Laura Brown told Colville’s group in an email: “We are here to help ensure that your undertaking aligns with legal requirements and safeguards the interests of your community.

“We appreciate that this is a wicked problem that will take a lot of creative thinking.”

The Mayor said: “The city has met with some representatives from the group to answer questions and see if we can facilitate a legal pathway to have those structures, ​but unfortunately they moved ahead installing structures without zoning approval.”

He added that the homes are “atypical” and that work will have to be done to bring them into compliance.

Real estate broker, housing advocate, and Colville’s neighbor and son-in-law Jacob Miller said: “Obviously what we’re doing doesn’t fit into the traditional boxes associated with municipal building and zoning codes, especially zoning codes that were written in the 30’s.

​“But the city appears to want to work with us to find a path forward to get the project to a point where it can finally be formally approved.”

Colville hopes that the city will see the benefits of the tiny home project and invest in such shelters to support more homeless people.