Kingston North Kitsap Rotarians Learn about Homeless Housing Initiative

At the May 10th Kingston North Kitsap Rotary meeting we learned of an effort to build Tiny House Villages in Kitsap County to aid the homeless.  These are small - about 120 square feet - houses with electricity and light.  They are meant to house one or two people comfortably, and when grouped as a village aid in the transition from homelessness. 

The speaker was Randy Spitzer, a Gig Harbor Rotarian, who has taken an interest in the Kitsap homeless problem  He shared that one of every 150 people in Kitsap County experience homelessness.  Randy is part of a committee, endorsed by County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido. Their goal is to provide homes for all.  They believe “every person should have the opportunity to live in a safe, decent, affordable home.”  They strive to make homelessness rare, brief, one-time, continuously improve homeless response systems, and expand community engagement. Their effort to build as many as three encampments, Tiny House Villages of fifteen homes each, is underway. Each encampment will operate as a community, with security, sanitation, self-governance, and access to nearby transportation. The program is modeled after those of Eugene, OR and Nicklesville, a Tiny House Village in Seattle.  At a cost of $2100 each, four units will be built Saturday, May 13, to be sprinkled around the county as a first step to educating Kitsap residents about the program.