Could building small homes in people’s backyards help Victoria’s homeless crisis?

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WatchWhat if there was a way for Victoria homeowners to donate their land to help the city's homeless?

It’s an idea that’s been pitched to Victoria’s mayor twice: What if there was a way for Victoria homeowners to donate their land to help the city’s homeless?

That question, and the idea that homeowners could help the region’s homeless, was on her mind during a recent community drop-in session.

“Some eyes did light up,” Helps says.

The idea, which was put on the mayor’s radar by two Victoria residents, comes from Seattle where for the last four years “The BLOCK Project” has been building tiny homes in owner’s backyards.

“Our first house went to a 70-year-old Indigenous man who was homeless in Seattle for 10 years,” says Barron Peper with The BLOCK Project.

Each home is about 125 square feet, complete with a bathroom, kitchen and a place to sleep.

Homeowners who wish to participate are vetted, as is their backyard. If they’re approved, a team of volunteers helps construct the tiny home. The homeowners must commit to the program, without compensation, for a minimum of five years.

“They basically go through an interview process, we call references, it’s kind of like matchmaking and dating,” says Peper.

The homes are funded by a combination of community members, local businesses, corporations and institutions.

So far, the program has built 10 homes, with plans to build 50 a year. Its mission is to have at least one backyard home on every block in Seattle.

“What we’re proposing doing as normal, is radical,” says Peper.

Peper says people need to shift the way they think about land, specifically backyards. He says before Air BnB, the idea of having a stranger in your home would have been outrageous to some but now people don’t think twice about it. The same, he says, could be said for companies Uber where you hire a stranger to drive you around.

The idea has shades of a similar plan pitched by Helps a few years back.

In a blog post in 2017, Helps suggested people open their homes the homeless to help with the housing crisis.

The Mayor says there’s one big difference with what Seattle residents have done.

“This is actual people who have actually done it,” she says.

Although the mayor isn’t planning on pitching the plan to council, she does say she likes the idea and would support a citizen-led initiative.

“You know if there are a group of residents who want to come together and pitch this to city hall, I’d say we’re open,” says Helps.

Council has already asked city staff to explore allowing tiny homes in backyards with plans to be introduced in 2021. However, the mayor says if someone wants to build a home before then, she’d be willing to support them.

Joe PerkinsJoe Perkins

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