Inside the new tiny home village offering 50 homes for residents to live rent-free - but there's a catch

A NEW tiny home village of 50 colorful houses has begun welcoming its first residents.

Located in Olympia, Washington, the community provides free accommodation to those most in need.

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Franz Anderson Tiny Home Village is the newest community of its kind in the US.

The village of 50 homes began welcoming its first residents this week, all of whom were previously experiencing homelessness.

Residents have been moved from homeless encampments along Interstate 5 to the clean, colorful village of tiny homes.

Made possible with funding from the American Rescue Pan Act, the village also offers onsite meals, hygiene facilities, and community spaces.

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It is part of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee’s Right of Way initiative, which aims to clean up dangerous homeless encampments.

Although the homes at Franz Anderson Tiny Home Village are small, they have enough room for a single bed, a sitting area, and a desk.

Inslee posted several photos to Instagram over the weekend showing off the colorful houses with their well-insulated windows and doors.

However, the program will need to acquire more funding if it can continue to provide housing after January 2024.

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“We will need more funding to continue this Right of Way Initiative,” Inslee told KOMO News.

“We essentially are out. We’ve run our string out for the ones we have planned right now.

“We need people to do the construction, we need people to do the outreach. We need law enforcement to be able to help. 

“We need drug treatment to get these people off of the scourge of fentanyl. This takes a [financial] investment,” he said.

TRUST IN TINY 

Across the US, tiny home villages are being used as a way to get people off the streets and into safe housing.

One organization, Hope of the Valley, has seven communities for this purpose in Southern California.

The homes are built with an identical format which allows them to be constructed in as little as 90 minutes.

Just like Franz Anderson, these communities offer free meals, drug treatments, and mental health support.

But tiny home villages are also popular with well-off Americans who simply want to enjoy a more minimalist life.

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One couple has shared how they sold their big fancy house to move into a tiny home village with fewer possessions.

And a new company makes and sells luxurious tiny homes that have been described as “the most beautiful in the world.”