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YouthBuild KCK builds a tiny house duplex to get homeless people off the streets

Posted at 3:14 PM, Aug 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-24 17:33:20-04

Good things come in small packages - for the homeless living in Kansas, it's more than just a saying.

"The tiny house program will actually lift two people off the streets who are actually living in the woods or in a tent somewhere in Pittsburg, Kansas," said Jana Loflin with Kim Wilson Housing. She helps people facing homelessness find places to live.

Volunteers with YouthBuild KCK are building the tiny house duplex to help the homeless get off the streets.

 

That's where her latest project, the tiny house coalition, comes in.

"I really see tiny houses as being a strong part of the solution to taking homelessness down to sustainable zero," she said. "To have your own door to go in, where you have your own four walls, and you have a safe place to keep your belongings is huge."

Each side of the duplex measures 64 square feet, enough space for a bed and a place to prepare food. There's a refrigerator and a microwave. In the center is a shared bathroom with a sink and toilet. And the people who live in the tiny houses will have access to a laundry room and showers.

 

The group will finish the duplex by Friday. 

 

"It will house two people at a time for 90 days and then they will move on into permanent housing, so then we can lift two more people off the ground into this same duplex," said Loflin.

Volunteers with YouthBuild KCK -- an organization that helps at-risk youth gain education and job skills -- are building the tiny house duplex. They plan to have it move-in ready by Friday.

 

Two people can live in the duplex for up to 90 days. Then they will move to permanent housing.

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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.

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