There’s No Place Like a Tiny Home
They’re small houses, but they’ve got big ambitions. Ranging from 240 to 320 square feet, these homes are large enough for just a single room with a kitchenette and a bathroom. There are 26 of them on nearly five compact acres in Kansas City, Missouri, painted in rustic shades of red, blue, green, yellow, and gray. The sidewalks are straight and pristine. And there’s an American flag flapping proudly outside each front door.
This is Veterans Village, a one-anda-half-year-old transitional community designed to help military personnel get back on their feet. The initial plan was to create a shared temporary living space similar to a group shelter, but that can be the wrong setting because shelters often lack privacy and safety. These small structures give vets their own front doors—and more. “It’s housing with dignity,” says Chris Stout, the CEO of Veterans Community Project (VCP), the nonprofit organization behind Veterans Village. “You get an opportunity to let your guard down, hit the reset button, and focus on starting over.”
New beginnings don’t always come easy for these veterans. Residents in the village were previously homeless, and some have mental health issues.
But the cozy community gives them neighbors they can count on, much as they’d had comrades they could reach out to during deployments. “It’s not like a shelter, where you’re around people you don’t trust,” says Karen Carter, a resident and Coast Guard veteran. “I feel protected and free, which means I can be a better me.”
Stout is no stranger to struggle himself. In 2005, when he was an Army corporal serving in Afghanistan, his leg was crushed by over 4,000 pounds of debris. Back at home, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a post-traumatic brain injury. He bounced from one job to the next and eventually began working at the United Way of Greater Kansas City, connecting his fellow veterans to organizations that offered legal aid and housing services. But he grew frustrated by the gaps he saw in the available services, especially for housing. One day he used his own money to put a veteran and his family who had been evicted from their apartment up in a hotel. “I thought, I could do this better,” says Stout.
In 2015, he and three veteran buddies started VCP, quitting their jobs and using Stout’s life savings. Five months later, Stout used his credit card to pay for the $3,000 worth of supplies to build their first tiny home model. They also purchased a building to be an outreach center, where any vet can get services such as free bus passes and counseling. Since the operation began, it has worked with approximately 10,000 veterans.
Once word got out about VCP’S mission, donations and volunteers flooded in. On Christmas Eve 2017, more than 100 volunteers began work on the first 13 tiny homes, each of which includes a bed, a desk, toiletries, and kitchen supplies. The plan is to have 49 homes by this October and then expand to St. Louis, Denver, Nashville, and Orlando. Each village will include a community center that will provide residents with free legal, medical, and dental care, as well as job counseling.
A big undertaking? Not in Stout’s mind. “We all went through basic. We all served,” Stout told CNN. “This is just my way to serve them.”