Tiny House Housing

It is often easy to castigate large cities or third world countries as failures in the field of affordable housing, yet the crisis, like an invisible cancer, manifests itself in many forms, plaguing both urban and suburban areas. Reformers have wrestled passionately with the issue for centuries, revealing the severity of the situation in an attempt for change, while politicians have only responded with band aid solutions. Unfortunately, the housing crisis easily fades from our memory, replaced by visions of homeless vets, or starving children. Metropolis magazine explains that “…though billions of dollars are spent each year on housing and development programs worldwide, ? At least 1 billion people

In the world of Ralph Bradburry’s “heit 451”, censorship reigns supreme and deep thoughts are suppressed, specific stories echo messages that serve as warnings of the consequences of a society without intellectual freedom and human connection. In Fahrenheit 451 there is a group of people that memorize these books to teach humanity in their time of need. Some stories I believe are important to memorize are the movie “The Truman Show”, the book “Plato’s Apology”, and the show “The Last of Us”. Each one of these stories offer unique insights into human nature and the dangers of a dystopian society. One story I believe is important to carry on is the movie “The Truman Show” directed by Peter Weir.

Every night across America, roughly 32,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 are homeless (Youth Homelessness). In the same night, hundreds of thousands of girls say goodnight to their fellow sorority sisters before crawling into their beds. As a Panhellenic community, University of Nebraska gives girls the opportunities to create friendships, form connections, and build strong women. We are called to be active members of society, and use our fortunate lives to change the world we live in. After visiting Community First! Village of Austin, Texas, it has become aware to me the severity of homelessness in America and how simple it can be to change it. Community First! not only builds tiny homes through donations for homeless people around Austin, but gives them a community to become a part of. Donating money to build a tiny house at Community First! Village would not only strengthen UNL’s Panhellenic Council’s generous reputation, but also support the movement to end homelessness through providing a home and community to a young outcasted individual.

When leaders consider or propose a project, one common result is that the poor are displaced; often meaning that nobody will accept them. Therefore, this results in a never-ending cycle of human beings settling into a place and moving away from this “temporary home”. In San Francisco, California, a UN expert named Leilani Farha visited some temporary camps and was concerned about what she saw. The situation that these poor individuals face is quite saddening as San Francisco hails itself as one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Instead of trying to evict helpless residents from encampments and spreading the problem to different areas of the city, the government should provide temporary sheds with basic amenities. This establishment needs to have an on-site job center, in order to help its residents establish professional connections in the work world. If homeless people never enter the professional world, then they stay off the streets because a stable income has become attainable for them. More affordable housing units must be allocated to poor individuals, so that the backbone to the local economy is not entirely priced out of a desirable region. Most of the humans that live in those types of lodging perform the crucial occupations in the undesirable industries which help make a city run smoothly as a

There are varying estimates regarding the number of homeless people in America. According to reports from NLCHP the number of homeless people in America is 3 million which include 1.3 million children. ("Homelessness and Poverty, Overview," 1). As I am living in the state of California so I want you to take notice of the homelessness in this state. Estimates reveal that there are 4,400 to 8,800 homeless people in Foresno County (Della-Piana, 2006). The other areas like San Joaquin County has 2,700 people homeless (Farrow, 2009) and in Sacramento County there are similar number of homeless individuals. The situation has become worse due to financial crisis and financial conditions of foreclosures and layoffs. Other reasons are shortage of cheap housing and increase in inner city drug culture due to which homelessness increased in California's Central Valley.

Housing First, Consumer Choice, and Harm Reduction for Homeless Individuals with a Dual Diagnosis. American Journal of Public Health, 94 (4), 651-656 . Retrieved June 14, 2008, from database.

When it comes to addressing homelessness, one of the biggest obstacles faced by many communities has to do with the providing of homeless support services (HSS).” (https://slohomeless.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/why-do-some-people-object-to-helping-the-homeless/) Many people say the issue needs to be “dealt’ with, but when it comes to building a shelter, the community often opposed the idea. “There are numerous reasons why some folks in any given community are against expanding services – or even providing any type of HSS altogether.” Some of the most common objections are, Not In My Backyard (NIMBY),”These folks will complain bitterly that something needs to be done about the homeless...They go to great lengths to make themselves appear as though they are not uncaring. Yet, these same folks are the ones who object the loudest…” Then there are the people who say, “It cost to much.” Yes I understand that it needs a lot of money to make the shelters but, it would help with getting the homeless off the streets and maybe they could get cleaned up and find a job. One of the last common ones is , “ Providing services will draw more homeless to the community.” That’s true but only for an extent. Yes Iknow it will bring the homeless to the community but think of all the homeless Veterans we could save. Think of the people who chose to serve for our country and we just want them to willow away on the

One of the simplest pieces of knowledge we acquire in elementary school (for future growth and development) are the three basic needs a living organism requires for living: food, water, and shelter. However, not everyone has access to all of these essentials. Homeless people are faced with awful conditions and suffer more due to poor weather conditions, diseases, and lack of safety. There hasn’t been much progress on this issue, and if this continues, the number of homeless people will only increase. In a few states the topic is being named as a “statewide emergency”, but unfortunately this problem is national. Instead of focusing on state programs, local programs and non-profit organizations to fix the housing issue, we must all contribute to ending this epidemic. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released an article stating, “In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States” (Snapshot of Homelessness). We must develop a solution to end long term homelessness immediately. The best way of solving this issue is to provide stable long-term housing, which is a term used to describe the home’s environment and financial status.

Second, micro homes, known by many as Tiny Homes, are homes considered to be under 500 square feet. Banks won 't finance tiny houses––any house smaller than four hundred square feet is difficult to mortgage––and, in addition to being tricky to occupy legally, the houses are excluded from many R.V. parks because they 're too tall (Wilkinson, A. 2011). All Micro Homes are designed the way a normal family home would be designed. A Micro Home has the necessities such as: A bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room. The households are mainly built for single individuals who are just starting off on their own, does not want to live in a fancy home, or a person who is unable to be

Homelessness has been a prevalent and contentious topic since its public emergence in the 1980’s. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, on any given night in the United States, there are roughly 645,000 people residing in homeless shelters or unsheltered street locations (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2011). And based on a local study done by the Mental Health Unit at the Houston Police Department in 2011, Houston has the largest homeless population in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. While many great efforts have been put forth to aid the homeless population in Houston, “the public health epidemiology task of quantifying and tracking child and family homelessness over time has been complicated…by increasing rates of…shortages [in] affordable housing” (Grant et al., 2013), and restrictions on temporary encampments (Loftus-Ferren, 2013). In order to successfully reduce, prevent and combat homelessness, more policies must be put in place to create sustainable, affordable housing for homeless families and to modify current laws that harm homeless individuals.

Sadly in present day homelessness has nothing to do with a person's worth. Homelessness is a social issue with many variables. For those who experience homelessness, the impact of the values are still universal. In America many still hold this belief, that one only needs to lift themselves by their bootstraps and into the pursuit of the American dream and for those who cannot, they deserve to be penniless being that they bring no “added value” to society.

“Supporters of strict laws barring behavior associated with the homeless argue that allowing large numbers of homeless people to commit quality-of-life offenses in urban neighborhoods is unfair to those who work, live, and play in those neighborhoods” (“Homelessness”).Allowing homeless people to linger in communities is unjust to the people who live there and work there. “Proponents of housing first note that the cost of providing homeless people with apartments is far less than the cost of letting them remain on the street” (“Homelessness”).It costs less to house the homeless rather than to let them stay on the street. “Housing first, they contend, has demonstrated that chronically homeless people are not beyond help but just require permanent housing before they can properly address mental or physical disabilities” (“Homelessness”).Housing first will help address a homeless person’s problems and will have permanent housing for the

Many advocates and policymakers of housing for the poor believe that to achieve optimal human development of low-income households the location of the housing must be considered as well as the quality of the housing unit (Newman, 2008).

Often it is housing, that absorbs high proportion of income that can cause Americans to become homeless. Twelve million homeowners and renters pay more that fifty percent of their annual earnings for housing. This percentage is astonishing high for the county who has the best weapon system in the world. Although, several programs were developed such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to stabilized homelessness, America should not have a large amount of homeless people, we should take care of our own people. According to National Coalition for the Homeless (“In a survey of 24 cities, people remain homeless an average of seven months, and 87% of cities reported that the length of time people are homeless has increased in recent years (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005)”). Seeing children and families living in shelters should not be permitted, in this great nation. Instead of interfering with other countries well being, America should focus on its own citizens. Investing in increasing developing affordable programs would prevent people from becoming homeless, and be in

The increasingly popular tiny house movement has been mooted as a potential solution to some housing affordability issues. The movement originated in the US in the late 1990s, largely in response to housing affordability problems, the global financial crisis and the desire to live more sustainably. At the time, the tiny house movement was very small and localised; in the past decade, it has become increasingly mainstream.