St. Joseph’s transitional tiny homes to open next month

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Units have been renovated and in just a few short weeks, tiny homes will be available to assist the unhoused across St.Joseph.

"We have four of the ten units completely done," said Angi Duty, Community Services Director with Community Action Partnership. "We've finally started the application process, working with individuals who qualify and we'll be able to start moving people in by early July."

The site at 2101 South Eighth Street will offer ten transitional housing units for individuals living under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

Officials say applicants should have some form of income to help ensure they can successfully transition into permanent housing.

"We're kind of looking at their situation, their past housing, age has been a factor, veterans, involvement with other case management and once they get moved in, they’ll be meeting with our caseworker every week to work on whatever barriers are keeping them from permanent housing."

Tenants will be able to stay in the homes for up to 12 months, which city officials believe is enough time to become financially stable.

"With homelessness, if you don't have a place to sleep at night, it's hard to get past those barriers and that's what we’re hoping to fix," Duty said. "So we're really excited to get it up and running."

The housing development will feature exterior security cameras and is set to begin welcoming residents in early July, officials confirmed.