Tiny House Community in Detroit

We've all seen the tiny houses on TV.  Cities around America are taking the tiny house concept, and applying it to a larger audience.  As seen on the Tiny House TV show, individuals who want to scale down their living expenses and be mobile, are buying custom built tiny houses, usually 250-400 square feet in size, and loving it.  Detroit has taken the tiny house and built a neighborhood of homes for people that were previously shut out of home ownership.

Cass Community Social Services is spearheading the $1.5million project to build small homes over the next few years.  Houses will be between 250 and 400 square feet and will be reserved for low-income owners.  This is an opportunity for low income families to have a chance at home ownership.  The project is rebuilding community in a neighborhood marked by blight and vacant lots, and giving previously homeless men and women and seniors a chance at home ownership.

The project is offering home ownership to people who couldn't do it on their own.  One of the major supporters of the project is Ford Motor Co. Fund, which donated $400,000.  Jim Vella, president of Ford, called the project a "game changer."  Not only for the people who will move into the homes but also for the neighborhood and perhaps others elsewhere.

When people own something, even  a tiny home, they have pride.  Pride of ownership translates into a better kept neighborhood, and an overall feeling by the residents that they can create a better life for themselves and their children.  A mega mansion these homes are not, but they're a place that a family can call home.  For homeless and low income people, this is one of their chronic worries.  Relieving them from that, these families can concentrate on jobs, education and a better future.  I hope to see tiny home communities popping up around the country.