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Chicago

Chicago approves $3M tiny home village for homeless

Each of various city-owned lots to host several of the 500 sf structures

Chicago Tiny House founder Brien Cron (Chicago Tiny House)
Chicago Tiny House founder Brien Cron (Chicago Tiny House)

Chicago’s homeless population may soon be able to take refuge in tiny homes.

The city of Chicago will donate $3 million of its federal Covid-19 stimulus funds to the non-profit Chicago Tiny House so it can build a community of tiny homes to provide shelter for people experiencing housing instability, the Chicago Tribune reported. The decision to fund the project was approved as a part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 budget, which passed last month.

“We must push ourselves to be creative,” Lightfoot said when she unveiled her budget. “Tiny homes are an interesting innovation that we should embrace as a city.”

Brien Cron, founder of Chicago Tiny House, said similar tiny-home communities for the homeless have been successful in the other cities.

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“People are losing their jobs. They’re losing their mortgages,” Cron told the outlet. “That’s where tiny houses come in. They are affordable solutions to the housing market, and if they’re built quickly, they’re going to succeed and they’re going to provide for their community.”

There will be a “micro-neighborhood” of the 500-square-foot homes spread across two to five city-owned lots. The structures won’t be mobile, unlike similar RV communities in Chicago. The lots will have heating, plumbing and other features required under the city’s building code.

The project will also target specific segments of the homeless population, such as veterans, new mothers, LGBTQ youth and “nontraditional students.”
Tiny home dwellings in Chicago were made possible by amendments to the city’s housing code last year.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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Affordable HousingChicagoHomelessness