- Cass Community Social Services is in the process of building 25 different Tiny Homes (250-400sf) in Detroit, MI.
- Each home will be on its own lot (roughly 30 x 100 feet) and everyone will be on a foundation. Most will have a front porch or rear deck to increase the living space.
- Many of the residents were formerly homeless, incarcerated, aged out of the foster care system or equivalent, and/or are senior citizens. All of the residents qualified for the program by being low-income.
- At first, the residents rent their homes (one year at a time). Anyone who remains in the house and program for seven years will be give the opportunity to own the home.
Click here to order Rev. Fowler’s book, Tiny Homes in a Big City.
To have Rev. Fowler come speak to a group about the project, please e-mail her at ffowler@casscommunity.org or call 313.883-2277, ext. 201. To arrange for a tour of the Tiny House e-mail ccumcac@aol.com.
Tiny Homes Detroit are being built by both professional tradespeople (under the supervision of a general contractor) and volunteer teams who will manage the finishing jobs – tiling, drywalling, painting, gardening, building decks and erecting fences.
If you are interested in hearing more about the project or making a financial contribution, contact:
- Rev. Fowler at ffowler@casscommunity.org
- Speak to Sue Pethoud to volunteer at spethoud@casscommunity.org.
- If you would like to donate building materials (bricks, paint, countertops, etc.) reach out to Rev. Fowler at ffowler@casscommunity.org.
I think this is a wonderful program for our city! How can I donate?
Visit our website http://www.casscommunity.org. There is a donate button on the first page.
Any plans to complete more than the 25 tiny homes since so much interest? Wondering if anyone had ever considered high school students from Detroit public schools building a home? They do this in Fredericksburg, Virginia where students learn plumbing, electrical, drafting, carpentry, etc and build a large home which takes a full school year to complete. The house is then sold and profits go toward purchasing next year’s lot. Message me at cevans1982@aol.com if you would like more information on their program. I think it would be perfect for Detroit students working to build additional tiny homes and learn vocational skills at the same time.
How can a person apply to live in one of these?
Applications are currently closed. We do not anticipate opening them again.
I have been looking for housing that I can afford and I am definitely low income on disability. If anything else should open up or if there is a new project that will be coming anytime in the future I would like to be considered for that. I have been looking and have not been able to find anything.
I would like to build these. A lot of them.
In addition to Tiny Homes Detroit, Cass Community Social Services offers a variety of different housing programs that combat homelessness.
Had the pleasure of meeting Faith Fowler when we had our Hep Homes—she is truly a person dedicated to helping those with special needs. Congratulations on your Tiny Homes! S.Dalfonso
I must also really commend her on the marvellous work she is doing.
https://lindagist.com/
About how much does it cost to build one of these homes?
Please check out the information on line. There are two great videos outlining all of the costs.
she is really a wonderful person with great personality
Is this tiny house service only in Detroit?
Yes though we hope it is widely replicated.
I believe there’s something like it in San Francisco and the Bay Area
This is fantastic. We desperately need this on Long Island too.
hello my company would like to volunteer on building, painting, cleaning, please advise with more information on doing this.
Please Contact Stacy at sleigh@casscommunity.org
We are an Outreach Organization in the City of Detroit. We would love to do a Replica of this on our lots that we own. How can we work with you all. We love this!!
Christian People Pulling Together Outreach.
Check out the book Tiny Homes in a Big City http://www.ccpublishinghouse.org
This is a big dream for me, so glad to see that the D is stepping up 😎😍😍
Where can I go to learn more about replicating this in my area?
There is a book available (Tiny Homes in a Big City) that chronicles the entire process. Please visit our website http://www.ccpublishinghouse.org to order your copy.
I want to start a similar project here in Cleveland, OH, but I have no clue where to start. My biggest concerns would be acquiring land for the project(s) and the city politics to get such a project approved. What suggestions do you have?
Check out our book – Tiny Homes in a Big City – available at http://www.ccpublishinghouse.org. It chronicles all the steps an the reasons behind them.
Can you tell me if any thought/planning was put into accessibility regarding these? I know a lot of people with disabilities who are living independently are low income workers. And so many housing issues many face are best addressed as a home owner with options to modify their home (like installing adaptive equipment.) But when I look at the tiny house movement it generally focuses on very agile people able to use ladders (or rock walls or even crazier things) to get to bed. I’d love to see this replicated in a way that allows for other, less physically flexible, people to be included and VERY interested about hearing about ANY projects with tiny houses that were able to do that.
Currently all but one home is or can easily be made accessible. Thanks for your interest.
How does a program like this get started. We need this in NY
We have a book – Tiny Homes in a Big City – that can tell you how we started the process.
It is available at http://www.ccpublishinghouse.org
Hello this project is amazing and I want to replicate it back home but I was wondering to know it is any special link to see or learn more about the average cost of each tiny just to make an idea to replay it and the most important consider the cons and pros to carry a project like this to another place I really enjoyed seeing the videos and admire the efforts and good job that all of you has been doing God bless you. Thank you
All of that information can be found in the book, Tiny Homes in a Big City. It is available throughwww.ccpublishinghouse.org.
I am interested in renting to own a tiny homes what steps do I need to go thru to get it started. My name is
Tawana Carter my number is
313 879-7042 my email is
tawanatnc@gmail.com
Applications have been closed for some time now.
Why? Is it not profitable?
Profit is not this issue. We will have 25 homes and we have over 125 applications. We will choose our residents from the applications we currently have.
I’m very interested 🙂
I do love the idea of this and don’t live far from Detroit. Are there plans to build more any time soon? I wouldn’t mind volunteering. I have volunteered a little with Habitat in the past.
Please contact me at spethoud@casscommunity.org
I used to live in Detroit I haven’t been there in 6 years but my neighborhood where I come from I lived in brightmoor I was hoping that the tiny-house community would come there so I can come back home and live in the neighborhood where I grew up
I’m a journeyman carpenter and wanted to volunteer on these projects. Who can I contact?
Homelessness is a problem that affects many cities within American and the world. Recently, cities like South-Los Angeles, California have started initiatives to create affordable housing in the form of tiny houses. Programs like Cass Community Tiny Homes in Detroit can be applied to big cities that have some budge to work with affordable housing and section 8 housing as well as working with non-profit and volunteer organizations to present a rent-to-own living option (Cass Community Social Services 2018). People who participate in these types of programs have to follow specific guidelines like finding/maintaining a job, meeting with financial councilors and keeping up with their physical and mental health via services offered by the same program. Moreover, tiny home communities can be an affordable and alternative way to prevent homelessness and help people transition from homelessness into having stable living conditions.
References
Cass Community Social Services. (2018). Tiny homes detroit. Retrieved from https://casscommunity.org/tinyhomes/
Thank you Maria, as this information is vital to all towns, cities, suburban and rural. I live in Maine and there are many discrepancies about living in a tiny home and assisting the homeless or low-income families. It’s sad, but I’m hoping to change that within the next couple of years as we really need to make vital changes in today’s economy and the astronomical increase of rents and purchasing a home.
Her work is really marvellous.
This small house is very nice and comfortable. Many people who want to have a small house that is comfortable for their residence. This will really make them very comfortable with their small family. Housing in a safe neighborhood will make them more happy. biesterbos.nl
I have lots I own and would like to build on, what is the process to get tiny homes.
I’m sorry. We are building on lots that we own in the Elmhurst – Woodrow Wilson area of Detroit.
If you’d like to do something similar, that’s fine. You can read about what we have done in the book Tiny Homes in a Big City available at http://www.ccpublishinghouse.org.
I wish they had something like this in Calif. Im in trouble and this would be perfect instead of me & my dogs being homeless. The rent & bills are so high here. I work but part time and school part time. Not making enough. What a special person to get this going.
When is the next tour??
That hasn’t been decided yet. Perhaps July 4th.
Hi I’m interested in rent to own one of these tiny homes how do I proceed in that process my name is temain Avery and I’m
on disability
Residents in the neighborhood are part of a program for low income individuals. Applications have been closed for some time.
I would like to know when the wait list will be reopened?
We don’t know if it will be.
This is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen, taking care of seniors with little to no money…..why can’t our government understand that not everyone is rich and wealthy yet we are all still Americans. I want no hand out from anyone yet I am in the same position as being poor even though I worked and was married all my life, at 75 who ever said these are the golden years I would like to kick this butt. If you have any info on a project like this that is back east somewhere could you email me? I so want of out Chicago for it is to violent for me and costly. I will take anywhere back east at this point. Thank you, Sherry
I would love to do something similar in my hometown outside Atlanta. How much did the construction cost of the tiny homes? Did you have trouble getting the city zoning for your project? Rent is about $400 per month? How many occupants per home do you permit? Thanks for the info. This could be a fantastic project.
Please check out the book Tiny Homes in a Big City. It has all of the information you are looking for.
Thank you!
When is the sign up for the Labor Day Weekend Open Houses?
This is a wonderful program, one that I would very much like to see my daughter get into. Right now she’s paying $625 of her meager $750 income in rent. I believe a tiny home would give her some stability and put her on a better path to living. I know that applications are closed. I just need to try to start a process for her. How can I accomplish this?
Thank you for your fast reply. I will keep a lookout for updates and hopefully, this program is just the start of something good in Metro Detroit.
I am looking for Zoning documents and/or Zoning Ordinances permitting Tiny Home developments or references to permit such relative to land usage. Great stories. I am on the Planning Commission for Lincoln Charter Township in Stevensville MI and we are discussing Tiny Homes. Thank You.
how do you go about applying