https://www.youtube.com/embed/71xvFsQwLNc
A California nonprofit is stepping up to help combat the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.
This month, Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission worked alongside the city to open L.A.'s very first Tiny Home Village: a 39-house, 85-bed community on Chandler Boulevard, located across the street from North Hollywood Recreation Center.
Each tiny home is 64 sq. ft. and "has two beds, heat, air-conditioning, windows, a small desk and a front door," the website details. "Onsite meals, showers, case management, housing navigation, mental health, job training and placement" will also be provided.
As shown in a video tour (above) led by the nonprofit's founder and CEO Ken Craft, the village includes an office trailer near the entrance "used for case management, for housing navigation and other essential services to help people get back on their feet."
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Craft describes the "incredible community" as one "where people will live together, but they all have something in common: They're trying to exit homelessness."
"They're trying to overcome the obstacles and barriers that are keeping them unhoused," he adds, showing off some of the community space that includes tables and chairs for residents to gather to have "three meals a day," provided by the nonprofit.
Kraft also shows off the onsite laundry facility, which will include five washers and dryers, as well as the vibrant colors — red, yellow and blue — of the different housing units, many of which are ADA compliant to accommodate wheelchair users.
Adds Hope of the Valley of the project on their website, "We are doing our very best to MAKE HOMELESS HISTORY!"
Kraft told ABC 7 of the village, "One of the most powerful things is when we see people come into this shelter, people that had been living out in the elements, in a tent, under a freeway."
"When they walk into a place and they see it's theirs, there's four windows, there's fresh air coming in, they can actually stay warm at night, they can stay cool when it's hot," he added.
Hope of the Valley explains on their site that those who would like to support the initiative — the first of multiple similar projects planned — can sponsor a tiny home for $3,000.
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