Tiny homes, big ideas: Fredericton non-for-profit builds tiny homes to address affordable housing shortage
With so many struggling to find affordable housing, a Fredericton entrepreneur thinks tiny homes may be a big part of the solution.
Software engineer Marcel LeBrun started ’12 Neighbours’ a non-for profit with tiny plans for a big plot of land.
"A tiny home community in particular came about as a goal to optimize for dignity the idea of giving someone their own four walls, their own door they can lock, and something that they can call their own, their own space is really important to create the most dignified experience for people," explains LeBrun.
LeBrun and his team are building what they call a ‘social-enterprise community’ of 96 tiny homes for those who can’t afford their home.
He says he researched the best ingredients that go into a successful community.
"As a community we tend to be good all throughout North America at relief so we help people with their circumstance but you come back later and not really much changes, whether its giving someone emergency food or shelter for a night but how do you actually help people transform,” says LeBrun.
The homes will be 10 by 24 feet in size and the community was designed based on consultations with some of the people who need them.
"I've spent the whole summer actually engaging in conversation with people who are housing insecure or living rough currently,” says LeBrun.
The project is all about making housing affordable.
"People will be assessed and be charged about a third of their income so if someone's on social assistance then they might be paying $200 a month, and be reassessed every year based on that.”
The community will also have social supports through community managers.
"They know not only everyone’s name but everyone's goals and dreams so that they can help facilitate and walk beside people hope to achieve their goals," says LeBrun.
And he says, rounding out the community will be a social-enterprise center with businesses and programs for the community's occupants.
"That will have a cafe, retail, an art store, and tiny home manufacturing so we'll be using them as training businesses to help people develop skills."
LeBrun is hoping to have the first block of homes ready for this winter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.