Tiny Homes & Villages

Tiny houses can be a good affordable housing solution…

Interest in tiny homes has been growing over that last few years. Depending on the location and situation, they can provide an affordable solution for individuals or small families. Some recent housing projects are listed below.

There are several Tiny House Villages for the homeless in NY State.


  • A Tiny Home For Good, Inc.

Syracuse, NY

“A Tiny Home for Good, Inc. supports those facing homelessness by providing affordable, safe, and dignified homes and fostering strong community partnerships to ensure resident stability. Learn more on their website: atinyhomeforgood.org

Andrew Lunetta is the founder of this organization. Read about his work to build 300 square foot cottages for the homeless in this article: A Place to Shelter-in-Place: Syracuse Man Builds Tiny Homes for the City's Most Vulnerable, by Briana Smith, Syracuse, Published 5:00 PM ET AUG. 10, 2020.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2020/08/10/syracuse-man-builds-tiny-homes-for-good


  • Second Wind Cottages

    Tompkins County, NY

This organization provides housing, support and encouragement to homeless and at-risk people in the community. Since its founding in 2012, they have built 18 cottages and helped change countless lives. “The mission of Second Wind is to house and walk with people toward restored lives.  We are a not-for-profit organization that provides homes and hope!”

 Read more on their website: https://www.secondwindcottages.org


  • The City of Kingston

    Ulster County, NY

The city of Kingston, NY announced that it was seeking proposals in March 2021 to build 15 tiny houses to house up to 30 homeless or low-income residents. Read the full Hudson Valley One article, Kingston Wants to Build Tiny Homes for the Homeless: https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2021/03/08/kingston-wants-to-build-tiny-homes-for-the-homeless/

Another article on this topic, Tiny Homes Could Be One Strategy to Help The Homeless was published in the Hudson Valley News, by Cloey Callahan, June 11,2021.

https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/news/article/Tiny-homes-one-strategy-to-help-homeless-kingston-16236395.php


  • Otsego County, NY

In Otsego County, 15 “tiny homes” are being built, and will be placed behind the county’s Meadows Office Complex, Town of Middlefield.

“The small structures are a county Board of Representatives’ initiative to provide temporary housing for the county’s homeless. The small homes are designed by Mike Steiger, Smsa Architectural Services, Cassville, and are being built by SUNY Delhi construction students at the Delaware County campus, then transported here. Under construction on site is a community center, and plans are to power the complex, to the degree possible, with geothermal and solar powers, according to County Planning Director Karen Sullivan.”

read more here: https://www.allotsego.com/first-2-tiny-homes-in-place-at-meadows/


  • City of Rochester, NY

A team of volunteers from Rochester Regional Health Systems and Person Centered Housing Options (PCHO) helped build two sheds in Peace Village, the homeless encampment in the City of Rochester in 2019.

Two sheds built at Peace Village for Rochester homeless, by Kelsie Smith, Thursday, August 8th 2019

To read the article on 13WHAM.com, click here: https://13wham.com/news/local/two-sheds-built-at-peace-village-for-rochester-homeless


Tiny Houses for the Homeless

in other states and Canada:


  • Kansas City, Kansas

“VCP Village is a community of 49 tiny homes on 89th Street and Troost, offering formerly homeless veterans not just a fully furnished place but also counseling, dental care, and financial literacy services.”

Excerpt from the article Tiny homes offer a path out of homelessness for Kansas City veterans, KCUR | By Catherine Hoffman / Flatland, Published October 18, 2021 at 4:00 AM CDT.

Read more: https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2021-10-18/tiny-homes-offer-a-path-out-of-homelessness-for-kansas-city-veterans


  • Detroit, Michigan

Cass Community Social Services is in the process of building 25 different Tiny Homes (250-400sf) in Detroit, MI.

Read more here: https://casscommunity.org/tinyhomes/


  • Ontario, Canada

“Fifty people who used to be homeless now live in small cabins on an industrial lot in Kitchener, Ont. The residents of A Better Tent City have an independent home, meals on site and access to washrooms and laundry facilities.”

From the article: Residents of Project That Gives Homeless Tiny Cabins Describe What Community is Like, By Liam Casey The Canadian PressSun., Oct. 24, 2021. Click here to read the full story: https://www.thespec.com/ts/politics/2021/10/24/residents-of-project-that-gives-homeless-tiny-cabins-describe-what-community-is-like.html


  • Toronto, Canada

Toronto Carpenter Who Builds Tiny Shelters for Unhoused People Calls on City to Drop Legal Fight/ Khaleel Seivwright says money being spent by city on court fight should go towards 'safe housing' by Muriel Draaisma· CBC News · Posted: Feb 22, 2021 8:35 PM ET | Last Updated: February 22

A Toronto carpenter who has built tiny wooden shelters for unhoused people is calling on the city to drop its application for an injunction that would stop his work. "The money the City is spending to attack me could be put into safe housing for those that need it," Khaleel Seivwright said in a statement provided by his lawyers on Monday.

read more:https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-carpenter-khaleel-seivwright-response-city-application-injunction-1.5923854

  • An update on this story, Man who built shelters for homeless agrees to stand down after legal fight with city, can be read in The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 29, 2021 11:56 AM ET | Last Updated: August 29,

    “Seivwright said his goal was to help the city and tackle some of the big issues it faces: "poverty, lack of affordable housing, and a broken shelter system."“

    […] “The City has come under scrutiny for its handling of the homelessness crisis during theCovid-19 pandemic. Some people hoping to avoid the violence and illness they said they faced in the municipal shelter system set up large encampments in parks, but were evicted by police and city staff in July.”

    Click here to read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-tiny-shelters-1.6157520




Note: To submit a request to join the Mohawk Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition, please contact our CoC Chair, Steve Darman.