Seven New Homes to Be Built by A Tiny Home For Good

The future of a Tiny Home for Good is looking bright. Andrew Lunetta, executive director, is ecstatic about the seven more homes that are being built in the upcoming months funded by Onondaga County. Onondaga County is a county in New York, close to Syracuse, which has a population of about 470,000 people. The county took note on the previous homes that A Tiny Home for Good has built and decided to provide a grant to build the next group of houses.

 “The result of long term homelessness is constant visits to shelters, hospitals, and jails with the bill often footed by the county. Onondaga County saw how important a safe and dignified home is to maintain long-term housing, and they provided us with the financial support to build seven safe and dignified homes,” says Lunetta. The county was gracious enough to gift A Tiny Home for Good with 235,000 dollars to build seven homes in hopes that it will provide a long-term cost savings. The more people that they can help give a home to, the less money the county will have to spend overall.  

These new homes will be built across three different sites; two homes will be at West Matson Street, two at Marquette Street, and three at Highland Street. The properties on Marquette and Highland were donated by the Greater Syracuse Landbank. So far, the homes on Matson have been completed, and the two on Marquette Street should be finished by the middle of November. Lunetta hopes that the other three homes on Highland Street will be completed and move-in ready by March of 2020. Each of these homes is equipped with a kitchen, bed, living room, closet and bathroom in each of the single-story homes. Built from the ground up, local contractors, volunteers, and Lunetta are the ones putting in the time to create these homes in hopes of reducing homelessness in the area. This project specifically has brought in about 50 volunteers that have helped with construction of the homes. The previous homes that A Tiny Home for Good has built have been around 300 square feet, but these new homes are expected to have a larger layout. These are the first homes being built that will have an onsite washer and dryer. This will be a huge upgrade to those living in these houses, who will now be able to do laundry with the touch of a button instead of hand-washing and hanging their clothes. 

Currently, Lunetta says that they do not know who will be living in the homes once they are complete. The construction phase is for building the home and making sure that everything gets completed in a timely and proficient manner. Once the construction phase gets closer to being over, A Tiny Home for Good will partner with the case managers from the county to choose the respective residents. This process begins with finding appropriate candidates who are in need of a home, and from there candidates are given an interview and selected upon review. 

By Caroline Bailey