For context, I'm going to be talking about this.
First of all, Amen. Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord. Keep it up.
Tiny Homes for the homeless on a permaculture farm? This is certainly a good idea. There is momentum, energy, and community buy-in behind it. Everybody from the POTUS to Mayor Berke to Citizen Jane recognize that homelessness is a problem, and we can no longer, as a society, turn a blind eye. The need for positive action was reinforced in the minds of the Chattanooga community when the city recently destroyed a homeless camp under a bridge because of some abandoned tires. There are cynics among us, but it may have also had to do with the new luxury apartments being built nearby.
But it is easy to be angry, and while anger feels good, that is about all it does. We need to build something instead. At Southside Abbey we have recognized that affordable housing is a serious issue in our community. Not in the least because somewhere around 70% of our worshipping community is experiencing homelessness. Chattanooga Organized for Action has been sounding the rallying cry for more affordable housing for some time too. You can read some of their arguments here. They get into the nitty gritty of housing policy and HUD standards and Area Median Income, and their work is extremely important, so it's worth reading through and understanding. You might notice an aggressive tone. They tend to take a combative stance towards the city,and sometime conflict may be necessary, but it is worth mentioning that the city is, often, working towards the same ends.
For example, the mayor's office and, by extension, the city is working hard to address homelessness. They have hired a Homelessness Services Coordinator (props to Heather Cook) and promised the White House that they will have every homeless veteran in a house by the end of 2016. They can secure Section 8 vouchers (a Federal program that pays a set amount of rent per month for those in need) but they have difficulty finding landlords who are willing to accept Section 8. There is often a stigma that tenants with Section 8 vouchers will be problem tenants. This is unfortunate, because what a landlord should see when they see a Section 8 voucher is guaranteed money every month. The US government will pay the specified amount. That part of the rent won't be late, ever. The City is always working to get more landlords on board, and I'm sure they could use your help. Anyways, the point is, the city government should be on board.
And the city isn't the only ally. There are plenty of organizations in Chattanooga doing good work. The Community Kitchen keeps people alive. They are definitely the central agency working to help the homeless. MetMin works to stop homelessness before it happens, often by pledging for a portion of a missing rent or utility payment and negotiating with the landlord to keep people in their houses. They then have a list of all the services in the area that can help the client break out of the cycle of poverty. The Hart Gallery provides studio space for homeless artists, and then acts as a storefront to sell their art and help them make some money. Relevant Hope brings food to homeless camps throughout the area, reaches out to them wth Bible Studies, and advocates on their behalf. Multiple churches feed the homeless regularly. Mustard Tree Ministries with Brother Barry Kidwell is a good example of that. Folks love Brother Barry. And these are just the Chattanooga organizations I know about. I'm sure there are others.
Now, I'm writing this blog post on behalf of Southside Abbey. We are a church by, for, and with folks experiencing homelessness. But we are also just a church. We have a full meal in the middle of our Eucharist every Friday night, and we have a participatory homily that grows out of a group discussion. Our community consists of young professionals and Sudanese refugees and retired folks and ex-cons and entrepreneurs and young families and folks with traumatic brain injuries, so there is certainly never a dull moment. Folks experiencing homelessness are a large part of our community, and so we care deeply for them. We've been bouncing the idea of tiny houses around for at least eight months now, so we are pumped to see the momentum that Daniel Lambert has generated. You can listen to him talk a little about his vision here.
Needless to say, we want to make this tiny house project happen. Too many of our brothers and sisters have to endure the cold while we sleep in warm houses. Last year someone froze to death over on 11th street. Our good friend Wild Bill said goodbye to us at Southside Abbey, and then was killed by a car while making his way across the interstate to his home under a bridge. We pray with these people. We share meals with these people. We love them, and our love would have us build them homes. These sorts of tragedies don't need to keep happening.
And that is all just context. Now we have the specifics of this project:
The tiny house project is going to an example of the housing first model. Basically, the first priority is just to get people into houses. The social work, the addiction counseling, the job training, and the mental health services all come second. The first step is just to get people off the street. No strings attached. If somebody wants to sit in their house and drink themselves to death, they are an adult and they can make that decision for themselves. We have to respect their right to autonomy and self-determination. You can't force somebody to stop being an alcoholic if they don't want to stop. It is ultimately going to have to be a decision they make themselves. However, you can check in on them every week and let them know that as soon as they decide to get serious, there is a whole host of agencies ready to help them get back on the right track. But that is an odd part of the housing first model. You don't have to join a twelve-step program. You don't have to make a profession of faith. There is no required program.
I think that is a hard pill to swallow with the housing first model. We want people to get a handle on their addictions. We want them to get jobs. Get healthcare. Get their act together. We want to make them do the right thing. But we are talking about adult human beings here. We can't make them do anything, not in the long run. The only real, lasting change will be when they decide to change. We can encourage that decision, and then be there, partnered with them every step of the way, but we can't make that decision for them.
If this tiny house project is going to be partnered with a permaculture farm, as I believe it will be, it isn't going to follow the pure housing first model. If someone is going to stay in one of these tiny homes, I assume they would be expected to work on the farm. So questions arise: if someone stops doing their share of the farm chores, do they get evicted. If you stay in a tiny house, do you have to work on the farm? What if you want to find another job but still live in the tiny house?
Then we have other more logistical questions.
How many tiny houses are going to be built in each village? 12?
How much land will each of these villages have to farm? 5 acres? 40 acres?
If there are around 600 homeless people in Chattanooga, how many of these do we need to build to truly end homelessness in Chattanooga? 50?
(probably more, not everyone sleeps on the streets)
How doe we stop these from taking on the nihilism of the projects?
Do we scatter them though-out town? Do we make them mixed income?
Can college students and hippies and retirees and lawyers stay in them if they pay rent?
Are we going to charge rent? How much?
Who owns the houses and the property?
Are these halfway houses for folks on their way to traditional homes?
Or are these houses permanent residences targeted at the chronically homeless?
Are there going to be special village rules to govern community life? Is that too controlling?
How will we organize people into the houses?
There are already informal groups in the homeless community of people who share space and look out for each other, will we keep these groups intact?
None of these questions are insurmountable. They are just going to have to be answered eventually. The City of Chattanooga does have the land to give. There are blighted and abandoned properties throughout Chattanooga, many of which have been turned over to the city on account of folks not paying their property taxes. The City hates blighted and abandoned properties. They are ugly and tend to attract crime. These tiny houses on urban farms could be a great way to redeem blighted properties and provide affordable housing to the chronically homeless. And if successful, they would be another feather in the cap of a cool city.
Anyway, I know how we should start to answer these questions.
We should build the first village. If it works, lets keep going.
