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SECOND TINY HOME VILLAGE FOR

HOMELESS YOUTH PROPOSED
August 5, 2022 | Oakland Tribune, The (CA)

Author/Byline: Marisa Kendall mkendall@bayareanewsgroup.com | Page: A4 |

Section: News

Monique T., of Oakland, admires a tiny house from a distance while attending the
grand opening ceremony of the Tiny House Empowerment Village in Oakland in April
2021. Youth Spirit Artworks is seeking money to expand the village by 21 additional
homes.
PHOTO: STAFF ARCHIVES

PART 1

OAKLAND -- A year and a half after it opened, a unique tiny

home community wants to double its capacity - installing a
second village of psychedelic, mural-covered homes for
unhoused young people.
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Youth Spirit Artworks, an East Bay nonprofit that hosts art and
job training programs for homeless and low-income youth,
opened its first tiny home village near the Oakland Coliseum
early last year. Now the organization is planning to add another
21 tiny homes to the same property, using experimental designs
that they hope will be replicated across Oakland.

The organization still needs to raise more funding and get

approval from the city. But Youth Spirit Artworks executive
director Sally Hindman said her nonprofit is working closely
with city officials on the design, and many of those who donated
to the first village are eager to contribute again. She hopes to
break ground on the project's first phase - a community center
and a space for creative projects - next month.

"I think everybody's desperate to find innovative solutions to the

challenges of homelessness," Hindman said, "and we did
something that was wildly successful, so people see it as
replicable and as moving us in a direction that people want to
see these projects go."

PART 2

Hindman is working with University of San Francisco's

architecture department, a student-run sustainable housing
club at UC Berkeley, and many other volunteers to get the
project off the ground. The plan is to build three micro-villages
of eight modular units each, for seven residents and one
resident assistant. Hindman hopes that building smaller villages
will allow the model to be replicated on small vacant lots
throughout Oakland, which may not have the capacity for a
large-scale project.

The organization still needs to raise most of the $2 million price

tag for its new village. Though it has requested $250,000 from
 3

the city, it so far hasn't been successful in obtaining that

funding. But the program has some support from city officials,
and Hindman anticipates a new village might open by fall 2023
at the earliest.

"Councilmember Reid is very supportive of Youth Spirit

Artworks and their tiny home village as this organization seeks
to remedy our current housing crisis and how it has affected our
transitional age youth here in Oakland and the greater SF Bay
Area," Oraya Hunter, communications director for
Councilmember Treva Reid's office, said in an email.

As in the first tiny home village, young people ages 18-24 may
stay there for up to two years, ideally while working on school,
job training and trying to find permanent housing. A year and a
half in, the first village has moved six residents into permanent
housing. Three have gone to stay with family. Two people were
asked to leave the program because they violated the rules -
including one resident who was getting into fights - and two
others decided to leave (one after getting incarcerated). It's a
difficult population to serve - at least half of the residents have
serious mental health challenges, and many need to learn basic
life skills they were never taught growing up, Hindman said.

PART 3

Tiny homes have become increasingly popular as the Bay Area

grapples with an escalating homelessness crisis, because they
offer privacy and dignity that's lacking from traditional dorm-
style shelters. Oakland and San Jose both have embraced the
concept, and have opened more than a dozen tiny home sites in
all.

Youth Spirit Artworks puts a new spin on this trend by trying to

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fill what it sees as a major lack of resources for young people.

Because county housing systems prioritize elderly, ill and
disabled people for placements, most tiny home villages primary
shelter older people.

And while other tiny home sites are industrial-looking, featuring

uniform units in drab colors, YSA's site is an explosion of color.
Murals cover every surface, from the homes themselves, to the
planter boxes, to the fence surrounding the property. Inside, the
tiny homes look like funky college dorms, with bright colors on
the walls, fun quilts and donated decorations.

"We raised the bar on beauty, and who deserves beauty,"

Hindman said.

The YSA site also bucks the traditional model because it was
designed and built by thousands of volunteers - including some
of the young people now living there. A leadership council of
young residents helps handle any conflicts that arise on the site,
plan programs and run events.

PART 4

Delilah Aviles, 21, had been couch surfing, sleeping in her car in
Oakland and camping in the North Bay before she made her way
to the YSA village. After fleeing a violent housing situation as a
teenager, Aviles found herself without a stable home. She
managed to graduate high school, but dropped out of college
after one semester - it was just too hard to attend classes while
also worrying about where she would stay.

Now, Aviles is studying women's and gender studies at the City

College of San Francisco, while also serving on the YSA
leadership council. She wants to pursue a master's degree, and
then teach - maybe even open her own school.
 5

"We're kind of regenerating ourselves here," she said. "Trying to

find ways that we can be self-sustainable."

But Aviles' time in the program is running out - her two years
will be up in February. Aviles said she's applied to about 10
housing programs, but hasn't found one that will take her.

She's not sure if she'll be able to find permanent housing in time

- a common worry among her fellow residents.

"A lot of us aren't sure," she said.