New residents are moving into Bernalillo County’s Tiny Home Village, doubling a population that is just starting to grow.
Next month, five new residents will join the five already established residents of the village that has a capacity of 42.
“Then we will move to having a few every few weeks until we get to capacity,” Carolyn Chavez, the village administrator, told KOB 4 recently.
Residents of Tiny Home Village will have access to mental and behavioral health services along with case management. The village hired staff for those new positions after county commissioners approved $500,000 in additional funding for the community in March.
“They’ll help folks identify their goals that they need to move toward housing stability and a more permanent solution,” Chavez said. “Different goals will take different amounts of time. So people may be here from two months to two years and we’re willing to work with them for however long it takes.”
Commissioner Adriann Barboa has been a huge proponent of the project since its inception. She noted that the tiny homes won’t fix the county’s issues with homelessness, but they are a good first step.
“We all are witnessing the impacts of our unsheltered neighbors in the streets, out in communities, so this is one puzzle piece to a larger puzzle,” she told KOB 4.
The community is working with UNM and local dentists to provide more health services to the village. There are already 65 people on the village’s waiting list.
“This hopefully provides a space in that ring, in that ladder, getting to independence and permanent living, right, that this is a temporary place for folks to get their ground, get some resources and services, to be successful in their next move,” Barboa said.
