Portland, OR Apparently Has A Bad Homeless Problem. The Mayor's Solution? Tiny House-Hoods.

Portland, OR Apparently Has A Bad Homeless Problem. The Mayor’s Solution? Tiny House-Hoods.

About half a year ago, the mayor of Portland, OR, Charlie Hales, decided to clear out the homeless campsites on public spaces. To his surprise, he found that compassion still exists in the heart of the community, and a mob of angry protesters (literally) descended on city hall with lit torches. Apparently, this Frankenstein-worthy scene seemed to shock the mayor to his senses.

Mayor Hales changed his strategy by choosing a route that would actually help people get back on their feet. His solution? Tiny House-Hoods (which is totally our name for them, not his). It’s a project that aims to create tiny houses for people making less than $15,000 a year.

Hales teamed up with Multnomah County Chairwoman, Deborah Kafoury to get the initiative underway. As Kafoury has stated, “Before people can get back on their feet and take advantage of job training and drug and alcohol counseling, they need a place to live.”

The City’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, Josh Alpert, has ensured that it isn’t a matter of if this will happen, but when.

Nonprofit Micro Community Concepts teamed up with TechDwell, an area company specializing in micro-home design, to complete this task.

Creating tiny home communities has proven to be a successful strategy for other cities around the country combating homelessness.

Wisconsin, Texas, and New York have put permanent roofs over heads in recent years with similar projects, Reuters reported.

Portland plans to have the first micro-community in place by February of next year.

Even lands from certain public branches (such as public schools) are being utilized for the project. Dave Carboneau, of TechDwell, has claimed that the 192 square-foot homes, costing $250 to $350 per month to rent, would allow individuals making just $5,000 to $15,000 a year to have the shelter they need.

As if that wasn’t enough…

The initial plans for a plot of 25 housing units also includes laundry, administrative services and other on-site amenities. To learn more, here’s a video from Huffington Post on the subject.