The homes may be tiny but the impact on the residents who moved into them this week was monumental.
A brief ceremony was held Wednesday morning to celebrate the years of work that has gone into Project Tiny Hope at 21 Kains Street in St. Thomas.
Phase 1 saw 16 residents turn the key to the front door of their new home, and kick start an exciting new chapter in their lives.
This is huge, enthused Lindsay Rice, YWCA executive director.
“Our team has been working towards this day for years now, and we are so excited to be welcoming 16 residents. It’s monumental for the YWCA.”
Project Tiny Hope saw the YWCA partner up with Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes that will see a total of 40 compact homes built on a brownfield site.
But the development is more than 40 tiny homes, stressed Rice.
Rice continued, “It’s all affordable rentals through the YWCA. And the term is dependent on the family. There is no period of time determined.”
And the analogy that by turning the key to the front door you are also unlocking the future.
A tour of one of the new homes is an education in how much can be incorporated into the structures that may be tiny, but are not short on features.
As Rob Flack, the province’s housing minister has alluded to on numerous occasions, Project Tiny Hope is a template that can be copied in any municipality.
As the residents stepped across the threshold of their new home, they found that literally everything they would need on move-in day was already in place.
All of that and stability, reiterated Rice.
“How do you focus on other important things in your life when you don’t know that you have housing every single day?”
Written by Ian McCallum
Photos by Kennedy Freeman
