Oakland Tiny House Empowerment Village

The team behind Tiny Village Spirit led the development of Youth Spirit Artwork’s 22-unit Tiny House Empowerment Village, a project which engaged over 4,000 volunteers, fourteen schools, and twenty-eight businesses.

Our model focuses on villages being deeply led by the constituents being served and village construction by community volunteers, bringing congregations, schools, businesses, and other partners together to find innovative solutions to the emergency shelter crisis.

Harnessing art and creativity is fundamental to our efforts, as is constructing high quality, aesthetically beautiful spaces, beloved by residents.

Address: 633C Hegenberger Rd, Oakland, CA 94621

Richmond Tiny House Village Garden and Farm

Tiny Village Spirit is currently engaged in leading the creation of the Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm and Garden, a seven-agency collaboration doubling the number of dedicated emergency housing units serving young people, ages 18 to 24, in Richmond, CA.

Our goal is to increase the number of emergency housing units serving Richmond youth from twelve to twenty-four, and in doing so also pave the way for more tiny house villages serving unsheltered people in Richmond and Contra Costa County. This project has a move-in goal of July 2024.

Address: 175 23rd Street, Richmond, CA 94804

Tiny House Village Directory

We have organized a national directory of tiny house villages with the goal of creating a network where:

• Village administrators can work together to better tackle organizational and operational issues.
• Established villages will help organizers who are trying to get new projects completed.
• Village constituents and volunteers can be mobilized for political action around housing policy.

Youth and Constituent Community Organizing Training Teams

Leadership at Tiny Village Spirit is embedded in decision making by the population being served.

A team of twelve paid/stipended local youth trainees (ages 16 to 24) is engaged in decision-making for the Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm and Garden and meet weekly for empowerment-focused group work, teaching both hard and soft skills.

Young people gain hands-on experience with public speaking at City Council meetings and at other venues, media outreach and interviews, writing letters to the editor and op eds, as well as social media postings, and with leading events.

Youth work to set and meet personal, as well as vocational goals and focus on developing their “purpose” and long-term goals.

Blueprint for Organizing Your Own Tiny House Village

We have partnered with Latitude High School to develop materials that will encourage schools NGO's and other grassroots groups to build tiny house villages with and for unhoused people.