'Hope Village' aims to create tiny house community for homeless

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Medford, Ore. — If you’ve driven by the Rogue Valley Mall recently, you may have seen it– a little house, sitting at the corner of McAndrews and Riverside. While the structure is small in size, the idea it’s advertising is a big one: creating a village of tiny houses for the homeless.

“There’s a good one in Eugene, there’s one in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, different places… and it seems to be working,” Chad McComas said. “Tiny house villages are popping up all over the country, in all sorts of cities, because there’s a homeless problem all over the nation.”

McComas is a pastor at Set Free Christian Fellowship, and the executive director of Rogue Retreat. His current project, Hope Village, aims to turn homeless into hopeful.

“If we can get folks off the streets, not only does it give them the dignity, and at least a little bit of a lifestyle they need to have, but it also saves communities money.”

Rogue Retreat is teaming up with the Jackson County Homeless Task Force and homeless individuals to jump start the process in the Rogue Valley. The idea is buy a piece of property. McComas won’t reveal the location, but said it’s valued at $260,000. So far, nearly $14,000 has been raised.

Another idea includes leasing land from the city. Officials have proposed this lot on Third and Front streets in Medford.

“If that works through, then it won’t take long to get a village going,” McComas said. “It’s not really a gathering place for the homeless, it’s an actual little village for a certain group of homeless that have passed qualifications to get in there.”

Single men, women and couples would be welcome in the community setting, with a kitchen area, portable restrooms, dumpsters, and a community trailer with shower and laundry facilities.

While the idea is still in the beginning stages, McComas is hoping to see the village begin to take shape by this summer.

“We’re not going to solve the whole homeless problem in Medford, but we might be able to at least have a prototype, and if it works, maybe we could get others down the road, that could work.”

For more information on the Hope Village, click here.