A new Tiny House Village (THV) for people experiencing homelessness is now open in Lake City—Seattle’s District 5. The Olympic Hills THV, a partnership between Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), Purpose. Dignity. Action. (PDA), We Deliver Care, and religious sponsor New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, held a grand opening event on February 19. Elected officials, agency staff, and members of the community attended and were able to tour the village of 45 tiny houses.
THVs are one form of micro-modular shelter (MMS) that creates a community of small, independent dwelling units where unsheltered individuals can move indoors with privacy. They can begin to recover, stabilize, and connect to services, with the goal of moving out of the unit into permanent housing. The new site is funded through 2025 City of Seattle non-congregate shelter funds and is overseen by KCRHA. Twenty of the houses were funded by Wellpoint Washington.
Within the enclosed and secure site, just off Lake City Way, each tiny house is insulated, with electricity, temperature control, windows, and a door that locks. Eight of the 45 houses are ADA compliant, as are the support buildings in the village such as the kitchen, hygiene facilities, and staff offices.
PDA, a subcontracted partner in the project, will be applying their CoLEAD model and lessons learned from the KCRHA Encampment Resolution Project to support the site. CoLEAD is an evidence-based model for outreach, intensive case management, and aftercare. This includes 24/7 staffing that is trained in trauma-informed crisis de-escalation and neighborhood safety. The safety teams will be provided by We Deliver Care.
While living in Olympic Hills THV, residents will have access to case management, physical and behavioral health care coordination, benefits enrollment, employment connections and training, legal system navigation, and housing navigation.
At the grand opening event, Wellpoint Washington Health Plan President Lisa Bogard said a poignant line that speaks to the nature of not just this enhanced shelter project, but the work more broadly in our community:
“Real progress happens when we work together, shoulder to shoulder.”
KCRHA is always excited to be working together, shoulder to shoulder, with our community to expand shelter and help bring more people into safe and stable housing more quickly.
