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On Aug. 17, Mike Cohoon, the director of Hope Village, spoke
to our club about this new housing project. Mike said that the idea for Hope
Village was created by the Mission Coalition six years ago after the Harmony
House homeless shelter closed. In 2018, the first tiny house opened to a guest
in the church parking lot of Landmark Christian Church, where Mike is a pastor.
Since that time, 10 tiny houses have been placed at area churches to provide
temporary housing. An 11th house is currently under construction. The tiny
houses have electricity, but rely on the churches for running water. They have
similar features to what you would find in an RV. There have been just over 100
guests in the tiny houses so far. The CDC does the screening and intake for
each of the guests. Each guest has a mentor and often receives other services.
Some of the guests are men, others are women, and some are women and children.
They have housed six high school students in tiny houses, and four newborn
babies have lived in them with their moms. Housing people in tiny houses has
saved almost $800,000 in hotel vouchers that homeless people receive from
different agencies. The first plan of Hope Village was in 2016. This will be a
permanent place for the tiny houses to all be in one place. That reality is
coming true as a site was purchased on Kennedy Road to move the tiny houses to,
and there is also a community building with restrooms, showers, a kitchen,
laundry facilities, community room and offices for staff. An open house was
held there on Aug. 22. A capital campaign is being kicked off on October 6. If
you would like more information on the tiny houses and Hope Village, visit
their website at https://www.hopevillagechippew.... Thanks, Mike, for
visiting our club and for making the vision of Hope Village a reality!
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