First tiny home for homeless arrives in Springfield

On Tuesday, the first tiny manufactured home was delivered to Eden Village, a planned community of tiny homes for homeless people located in north Springfield.

The goal is to eventually have 30 tiny homes for disabled, chronically homeless people.

Eden Village is a project of the Gathering Tree, a nonprofit organization that operates an evening drop-in center for the homeless.

The first home was purchased thanks to a $30,000 donation from Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realtors. It will serve as a model to allow people to come see what the homes and community will be like.

Gathering Tree co-founder Linda Brown said how soon more homes can be purchased and people move in all depends on donations. The total cost of the project, with the planned 30 homes and community center, will be about $1.8 million.

Eden Village is located at 2801 E. Division St., the site of a former mobile home park near U.S. 65. The Gathering Tree purchased the 4.5-acre tract of land late last year.

The homes, which will be manufactured in Athens, Texas, are about 400 square feet, with one bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchen.

Eden Village will also have a community building with laundry facilities and a large kitchen with space for entertaining up to 30 guests.

Eden Villlage will specifically house individuals who qualify as "chronically disabled homeless" by standards of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Residents, many of whom are on disability, will pay their own rent.

Residents will have access to case management and services. It will be a gated community, with residents free to come and go as they please.

Learn more at gatheringtree.org.