Tiny homes for veterans
Kingwood ParkHigh to addworkshop for students building houses inHumble ISD’s charitable architecture, construction program
Kingwood Park High School students soon will have a workshop for constructing small houses for homeless veterans.
The completion of the latest “tiny home,” whichwas designed by 2020 graduate Brendan Flaherty, was marked by a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 26. This home is 209 square feet and is furnished with a bed, a dining table and chairs and cabinets, according to a news release from the Humble Independent School District.
The homes were completed as part of Humble ISD’s “Students Helping Veterans: Big Heroes, Tiny Homes” program, a studentled initiative that teaches students teamwork, architecture and construction skills. Veterans now live in two other tiny homes that have been built by Humble ISD students. Summer Creek students contributed to the project and built a tiny home last year too.
This most recent home built by Kingwood Park students was provided to a veteran and moved to the Langetree Retreat and Ecocenter in Liberty County.
For Flaherty, working on tiny homes for veterans helped him find what he wanted to study in college — construction science and management— a change from his first interest, architecture. He served as the lead architect and designer of a home that will soon be going to a veteran in need.
“It started as a vision for the students to be able to get some real-world experience building and doing construction stuff in our architecture classes while also being able to give back to veterans in need,” Flaherty said.
Teacher Missi Taylor said students continue to get better at constructing the homes.
The class keeps a book of what they learn from each project to ensure the process continues with a smooth transition. The first home cost around $10,000 more than the next two because it was custom-built. They had an initial cost of $40,000, which was funded by donations.
Senior Parker Ryan will serve as the lead architect and designer for Kingwood Park’s third tiny home. It will be the fourth home built by Humble ISD students.
Construction will begin soon, but they have raised only $13,000 of their $18,000 goal. The second home did not have interior walls, but the third will have a divider wall to break apart the space.
Ryan said the new indoor workshop will help with project building.
“It will help a whole lot,” Ryan said. “The addition of a place where all of our stuff can be built is going to help somuch, especially covered because it will be protected from the elements.”
Their teacher, however, said the students still need to understand how to ensure the house withstands the elements, as in the real world of construction. Taylor spent 15 years in architecture working everywhere from the headquarters for Chevron-Phillips to her mom’s lake house, she said.
“I actually came from the architectural industry, and so for me when I’m teaching them, I’m teaching them how to be professional, because in the realworld I know what the expectation is of an employee and a manager, because I was a manager,” Taylor said. “They all come to me at different levels, and the ones that end up staying with us through the third and fourth year and are actually building the house, they’re hard workers and go-getters.”