Ricardo Flores has lived for almost a month in the Alvarado Tiny Home Village , a community of tiny homes for the homeless in the Echo Park neighborhood in Los Angeles.
“Here I have a place to live and rich and nutritious food. I no longer have excuses. This place gives me the opportunity to get a job and move on, because not having a roof ruins everything. ”
Ricardo from 62 years have you been a homeless person in the last 10 years. “Because of alcohol, I lost my family, my house, my cars. For driving drunk, the police grab me and put me in jail every so often. ”
When he lived in MacArthur Park he says he was beaten for stealing his phone.
Came across the Alvarado Tiny Home Village, one week after getting out of the Los Angeles county jail. So I slept around Echo Park. When by chance he discovered the houses for homeless people, he approached to ask how he could make them shelter him. “They were very generous to me and allowed me to stay.” Since then his life has changed. You can see another face.
The small house that Ricardo inhabits 64 square feet. It has two lounge chairs, air conditioning, heating, electrical outlets, doors and windows. “It is a very big help and being here allows me to charge energy. They also support us in everything we need. My dream is to go back to work. ”
The 10 last June the Alvarado Tiny Home Village with a capacity to receive 75 homeless and put two in each cabin .
“Due to Covid, we are only allowing one person per room; and they can bring their pets. In fact, we have a yard for the dogs. So we have everything they need to get them off the streets, ”says Lena Miller, founder and president of Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit that runs the Alvarado Tiny Home Village.
Urban Alchemy also operates four homeless tent projects, one in Los Angeles and three in San Francisco .
Ricardo Barrón, director of the Alvarado Tiny Home Village explains that they provide their guests with breakfast, lunch and dinner. “We also have 5 bathrooms and 5 showers; and a total of 24 employees, many of them were homeless or were in jail. ”
Miller argues that they do not have security personnel but that each worker does everything to support the homeless.
“We call them practitioners because they practice kindness, compassion, love and service to people. ”
But in addition, it indicates that they are very respectful of the privacy of each person.
“When we knock on the door it’s just to see if they’re okay, but we try not to have many rules because we don’t want to let them feel that here is a prison. ”
Therefore, it states that as long as they are alive and do not suffer an overdose, it is their business what they do inside their room. “Nor do we do searches or reviews in their places.”
Barrón observes that the only rule is that they be respectful and compassionate. “We want to create a sense of community.”
Miller emphasizes that there is zero tolerance for violence and theft. “This is because the main problem on the street is that people are very hurt. They face sexual and physical assaults. They burn their tents to steal their things and we want to protect them. ”
And it specifies that they brought Barrón to work with them because they know how to deal with people who are in the middle of a psychotic attack, suffering from mental illness, using drugs and cannot control themselves.
“ We do not punish them by being out of control, we just reassure them. The idea is not to throw them out and create a vicious cycle of entry and exit so that they become homeless again, but rather we seek to stabilize them so that from here they go to a permanent home ”.
Emphasize that these pre-made miniature houses are temporary. “The goal is to give them a permanent home. In how much time? Everything will depend on having access. ”
Can you use drugs inside?
“What you do within your unit is your decision. We don’t encourage them to do so, but if they use drugs, we just ask them to let us know to be on the lookout, ”says Bayron Wilson, a practicing worker from Alvarado Tiny Home Village .
Miller however, makes it seem that they have verified that when people come to places like this community of little houses, drug use decreases. “Many of the times, they use drugs when they live on the streets to stay awake at night because that is when they are robbed or their things are stolen. They always live in a plan to fight to defend themselves ”.
The Alvarado Tiny Home Village has been designed as a refuge for homeless people who are from the area because the purpose is to serve that community. “Many have come through the outreach programs of organizations.”
The ages of its tenants range from 26 until the 71 years, men and women.
Once they arrive in this community, they begin by helping them obtain their IDs and Social Security number. “The help depends on your needs. Some require jobs, others drug treatment, medical care, psychological services. We connect them with service providers to serve them, ”says Miller.
But the main thing they want is to work and start over, Barrón clarifies.
And he comments that he has seen many people arrive in very bad condition, but once they have their own space, access to a shower, laundry, boxes to store their things, their three meals and services, they look totally different .
“As soon as they feel safe and stable with a roof on their shoulders, the next step is to provide them with a permanent home. . That’s the goal. ”
Wilson, worker at Alvarado Tiny Home Village, ex-convict and former homeless, says they have a lot in common with their guests. “They have both thrown us out and from our experience, we know that we can get up again. These houses are a transition. And we talk with them and listen to their plans for the future and support them in whatever they can work on to be better. ”
Councilor Mitch O’Farrell , who represents the district 13 where the Alvarado Tiny Home Village is located says that when he was introduced to the idea of these little houses, he loved it because it was created by Pallet, a social enterprise that employs former homeless professionals to design and build these sleeping cabins.
T also because Urban Alchemy works with people who were homeless, were in jail and have many coincidences with the homeless who stay in the little houses.
Explain that this project came after another similar tent community program established in the city for the homeless. Only in the district tent project 12 have attended 140 homeless.
“The contract at the Alvarado Tiny Home Village is for three years,” he says. And it details that these projects to shelter homeless people have been established in places that the municipality rents.
La Tiny Home Village is located at Alvarado Street and Scott Avenue in a City of Los Angeles rented parking lot that was vacant for at least 23 years.
“We have plans to establish another Tiny Home Village in the Westlake area and we are considering other solutions to reduce homelessness.”
The good thing is that we have reduced the number of people on the streets. “In Hollywood we did a count that gave us a reduction of 12% ”.
And in addition to reducing homelessness in a safe way through these Miniature house projects have made it possible for mothers to return to stroll their children in their strollers and enjoy the park in places like Echo Park Lake.
About the cost associated with this house project, states that approximately one person living on the street costs between $ 30, 000 and $ 50, 000 year and eventually they die on the street because their life span is shortened. “This investment in these cabins is less expensive than letting them continue to live homeless.”
He adds that homelessness is a challenging problem that requires leadership and decision-making capacity, but considers that the model being used in his district can work throughout the City.
“We are on the right track to reduce homelessness, crime and save lives. We have reduced crime by 50% in Echo Park, as of when we closed it for repair. It has been a win for everyone, for the residents and the homeless. ”