25 Tiny Houses Being Built For Low-Income Detroit Residents

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - It's a humanitarian twist on the tiny homes trend.

A Detroit social service organization is building 25 mini houses for formerly homeless people, senior citizens, college students and other low-income residents.

According to the group's website, construction is underway on the Cass Community Social Services project that includes homes with 250 to 400 square feet of space. Each home is on its own lot and most will have a front porch or rear deck to increase the living space.

The organization's executive director the Rev. Faith Fowler discussed the project with The Detroit News earlier this year, saying it would be "just like a regular community - only smaller."

In a video promoting the project, Fowler says there's a shortage of affordable housing in metro Detroit. Residents at first will rent homes and later may buy them.

"Poor people don't have any safety net, so just one bump in the road throws them back to homelessness or poverty or eviction or foreclosure — so we came up with this idea," she said.

[Watch the tiny homes being built, LIVE!]

The houses are being built by both professional trades people (under the supervision of a general contractor) and volunteer teams who will manage the finishing jobs – tiling, dry walling, painting, gardening, building decks and erecting fences.

"Cass Community tiny homes is really meant to address three different problems. One is we had a neighborhood with way too much vacant land and abandoned house; two, we're trying to help homeless people and other poor people escape from poverty; and the final thing is we're looking to reduce our footprint," Fowler said. "...It's not tiny at all — it's a game-changer."

Both monetary and materials donations are being accepted for this project, and CCSS is looking for volunteers as well. Get contact information at this link. 

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