Tiny houses in East Baltimore create new community for unhoused families
For Brittany Harvin and her daughter, housing instability ended Monday. That's when she and a dozen other families move into new 440-square-foot homes as part of an innovative housing initiative called Hope Village.
Located at the intersection of Holbrook and East Hoffman streets, the colorful and tiny houses have been constructed in what was an old alleyway in Baltimore's Oliver community. Now, 13 families have an opportunity to unlock generational wealth with long-term stability and equity when they open the doors of their $25,000 homes.
A slew of Baltimore officials, developers and community partners gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the entryway of the Hope Village homes to celebrate a new homeownership model — locally and across the country — through which affordable homeownership can be achieved by low-income working families without a credit check.
Harvin grew up in Southwest Baltimore along Edmondson Avenue, but after her parents died young, she had trouble securing housing starting at the age of 16. For the past few years, she's been staying at the House of Ruth, a nonprofit that houses women who experience domestic violence and abuse.
"From Edmondson Village to Hope Village, I finally have a place that's nurturing and stable — a place to call my own," Harvin said.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said the new Hope homeowners are "proof of concept in action. Through private investment and community collaborations, each mortgage is bank-financed at 5% interest over 15 years, with monthly payments around $200 for each family.
"We know that housing has been a challenge, and we know that we've talked a lot about it. And in the state of Maryland, this year, we are actually starting to see some real progress. ... The new Hope [Village] owners is showing that we can do big things if we just make a commitment to following through," Ferguson said.
The idea of Hope Village started eight years ago as a passion project of Christian and Pam Wilson, along with Mark, Stacy and Jay Sapperstein of 28 Walker Development, to build homes for those challenged or disenfranchised from home ownership. The concept became a reality after months of planning, zoning zone review and construction.
Through their nonprofit, Heart's Place Services, the Wilsons purchased up vacant, overgrown properties.
"No more will these families face nagging questions of survival as they wake up each morning, but they will all be refreshed by knowing they have their own home," Christian Wilson said.
His wife, Pam, said the model should be replicated elsewhere.
"It's the wonder of this place, the Miracle of Holbrook Street, where lives will be rebuilt, children's futures secured and a way forward for others to replicate this idea that, through truly affordable homeownership, the traumas of being unhoused can be left behind," Pam Wilson said.
Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy said the Wilsons had a "heartfelt" idea at the beginning, but they soon realized that successful development involves addressing various infrastructure issues, such as water lines and site assembly.
"In 2016, we had adopted a tiny house amendment that would allow smaller footprint homes that are built slab on grade. And that's the most important piece, is that the city, the zoning code does not allow, like tiny homes on wheels, but we do have the ability to build tiny smaller footprint homes, slab on grade," Kennedy said.
Said Kennedy: "This is a wonderful example of a new type of housing stock for the city."
