FAITH traces its origins to a Tiny Houses Workshop
... convened by The United Churches of Olympia (TUCO) and Evergreen Christian Community, with the support of other faith groups on October 27, 2018.
This workshop was attended by 150 people who represented 27 faith communities and other interested organizations along with the City of Olympia. It focused on successful examples of the creating of tiny house projects and communities in Washington and Oregon, including those located on faith community property. The conclusions of this workshop were:
1. Faith Communities need to engage with homeless people and create relationships
2. There are three options for faith communities to partner with the City of Olympia for tiny house facilities:
a. One to six houses on faith community property with support from a City contractor (screening, portable toilets, trash removal, links to social services)
b. A medium sized tiny house village (10-20 houses) with common facilities, (water, toilets, laundry, cooking) managed by a group of faith communities with support from a City contractor (screening, trash removal, links to social services)
c. Faith communities making contributions to a tiny house village on City property with City-contracted management
3. There is a valuable success story in Eugene Oregon that we can emulate in Olympia
4. The City of Olympia has created a pilot program to support faith communities and we should build on that and work with the City to resolve issues
5. People on the street have skills that we can use in this process
6. Tiny houses are only part of the solution and should be a transition to more permanent housing
This workshop was attended by 150 people who represented 27 faith communities and other interested organizations along with the City of Olympia. It focused on successful examples of the creating of tiny house projects and communities in Washington and Oregon, including those located on faith community property. The conclusions of this workshop were:
1. Faith Communities need to engage with homeless people and create relationships
2. There are three options for faith communities to partner with the City of Olympia for tiny house facilities:
a. One to six houses on faith community property with support from a City contractor (screening, portable toilets, trash removal, links to social services)
b. A medium sized tiny house village (10-20 houses) with common facilities, (water, toilets, laundry, cooking) managed by a group of faith communities with support from a City contractor (screening, trash removal, links to social services)
c. Faith communities making contributions to a tiny house village on City property with City-contracted management
3. There is a valuable success story in Eugene Oregon that we can emulate in Olympia
4. The City of Olympia has created a pilot program to support faith communities and we should build on that and work with the City to resolve issues
5. People on the street have skills that we can use in this process
6. Tiny houses are only part of the solution and should be a transition to more permanent housing