Quixote Village: Tiny homes as permanent supportive housing

Linda Hugo, President and CEO
Ginger Segel, Senior Housing and Community Developer
Community Frameworks

Challenge: The tiny house concept, implemented to respond to homelessness in many communities, faces challenges including accessing both capital and operating financing; designing for community building and resident privacy, and overcoming land use, zoning, building and housing code barriers.



Working throughout the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Bremerton and Spokane, WA, Community Frameworks develops affordable multifamily and supportive housing, creates homeownership opportunities and provides budgeting, credit and homeownership counseling. The organization provides technical assistance, financing and affordable housing development for other nonprofits.

In 2013, Community Frameworks’ senior developer, Ginger Segel, led a team in the development of Quixote Village in Olympia, WA, which grew out of Camp Quixote, a homeless tent city hosted by a group of churches. Panza, an organization formed by the churches, supported the self-governed camp by raising funds for a resident advocate, utilities and other expenses and functioned as a backstop for the camp’s self-governance, monitoring its decisions for consistency and legal compliance. The two-acre Quixote Village, one of the first publicly subsidized permanent supportive tiny house communities in the country, includes 30 tiny rental cottages with half-baths for homeless adults, a community garden and building with a large kitchen, bathing rooms and two multi-purpose common spaces.

The cottages are large enough for a standard-size bed, chair, table and some storage; are heated, insulated and have electricity and a standard ceiling height, and are sustainably built for long-term use.

Tiny houses provide a promising model for permanent supportive housing for single homeless adults by reducing the per-unit cost by more than half and by balancing individual private space with shared community space to foster positive community engagement.

In spite of this cost-effective solution, compiling capital and operating financing poses some challenges. Residents are extremely low-income and many have no income.

Generally, the capital funding must be in the form of grants, not loans, since the project will not generate enough rental income to support debt service. Project leaders need to understand the unique aspects of available financing and to adapt via waivers or variances when possible. Economies of scale could potentially be achieved by a statewide or regional approach.

Organizations operating this kind of housing need to assess their management capacity and possibly look for partnerships with local housing authorities, nonprofit housing developers or other experienced agencies. A clear management plan that details how the project will be operated, ensuring compliance with laws and contracts and having well-reasoned substance abuse, rule enforcement and eviction policies, is critical.

For long-term success, communities using tiny houses as permanent supportive housing also need a strong and committed community organization, with broad support; development expertise in financing, design and land use issues; a site located near public transportation and services; zoning approval and building and housing code compliance, which may require code changes; a design that meets funder requirements and sufficient operating funding.

Quixote Village’s excellent team included community organizations and government support. Panza’s board, comprised of very capable people, used their connections and savvy to work with residents to develop the permanent supportive housing project to replace the camp in 2010. Government contributions included a county land donation, zoning amendments by the city and $1.5 million from a set aside in the Washington State Housing Trust Fund.

The board and residents were essential drivers to persuade private and public funders and the community. Community Frameworks operated in the background to pull the technical pieces together, bring the project to fruition and prepare it for operations and compliance.

Success stories at this community include one college graduation, two residents attending college, two residents fully employed, one operating a freelance business and others working as day laborers. Two staff members help residents with onsite mental health care, enrolling in health insurance and recovery programs and other services, including providing haircuts and organizing a running group. According to Panza’s 2014 annual letter, “Village residents have created a community that supports people in recovery from addiction and encourages collaboration in the kitchen, vegetable garden and planning and organizing events. The Village is a place where everyone can contribute to their community.”

The lesson we learned through the development of Quixote Village is that a team approach, including partnerships with funders, service providers, community members and experienced managers, is essential to long-term success.