Thumbs Up: Small steps to ending homelessness with tiny houses

Preliminary results of a recent homeless count found more than 2,800 unsheltered individuals in Sonoma County, a population equal to more than twice that of The Sea Ranch. Of those, more than 200 are homeless veterans. But that number is expected to take a sharp drop by the end of a year thanks to a proposal that the Board of Supervisors has been working on to create a village of tiny houses for homeless veterans.

That vision moved toward reality last week when the supervisors approved a three-year ground lease to test the tiny homes concept on a 30,000-square foot piece of land located just south of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. Community Housing Sonoma County is hoping more than dozen homes will be located on the 665 Russell Ave. site. If successful, supervisors hope to replicate the village on other parcels of county-owned land.

The 250-square-foot homes will include a small kitchen, a fold-up bed, bathroom and a built-in. Veterans who qualify to live there will be required to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. As Supervisor Shirlee Zane noted, “We’re living in times where we need to be a lot more innovative in terms of how we do housing.” Here’s a thumbs up to what this kind of innovative thinking can deliver.