- One Nashville pastor has a plan to help those without permanent shelter: building 60-square-foot houses with no bathroom, kitchen, or electricity.
I'd love to live in a tiny home. I wish it were practical in the city. If I lived in the country, I'd totally buy a tiny home and the smallest plot of land available. I'd get one with water and electricity though. I wonder how much cheaper his 60sqft homes are, than 150sqft ones with kitchens and bathrooms? Hm, he says $7k, versus ~$50k for a tumbleweed or ~$15k for a container home. With no water or electricity, why not just build a dormitory? Surely a 100-person dorm with individual rooms, a kitchen, and a restroom would be cheaper than 100 of those? I'm not criticising; I think it's a great idea. I'm just wondering if there's a better way to scale it.
Yeah, I wonder if it is a psychological thing. I imagine that with your "tiny home," you feel a greater sense of ownership, and with that comes a pride that translates in to a sense of community, and positive mental health. The "dormitory" already exists in homeless shelters, halfway houses etc. this is "your home." -that's a powerful thing.
Having a place in which to retreat that is yours alone does offer a certain amount of psychological comfort. Knowing that your well being does not depend on the room you're sharing with people or the current space availability of a govt. program or the good graces of strangers could provide the base level emotional stability that so many homeless folks would benefit from. Fits well with Maslow's hierarchy of needs.