Are small wheelhouses another tactic in the Seattle homelessness crisis?

KENT, Washington. Seattle City Council member Mike O. Brien paid a visit Friday to a Kent startup called "Close to Home", which is creating small houses on wheels.

CEO and founder Rachel Stamm explains that these homes are different from those of your RV or trailer.

"It was built with materials you could find in a million dollar house," she said. "The same type of materials, the same type of engineering. It just happens to not have a foundation – it's on wheels.

"It's an entirely permissable house. There is electricity, plumbing, a kitchen, a bathroom, a shower, all those things, all the amenities. But that's only a few hundred square feet and it's very affordable. "

O'Brien said he wanted the city's budget to include a grant for a temporary housing pilot program to help buy tiny homes like these, which he says is a way help the poor.

"The city could award up to $ 25,000 per person. So, for a model like this, if a church wanted to get together and house one or two, we would allocate 50% of the sum and the other half, "he said.

O & # 39; Brien says that each home can be purchased as a kit and costs around $ 50,000.

"We could see the types of people who live and prosper there and those who do not, and from there, we can say, hey, you know what, we think that it's possible to take what works for a couple of hundred people and what it might look like, "he said.

O'Brien says the plan is still under development.

"At the moment, you can not put one in your entrance because they're not allowed, so we need to see if we can do a job to see if that could happen," he said.

He added that the city would only invest if people made a commitment to ensure that these houses would be rented at an affordable price, and the focus would probably be on those at risk. become homeless, such as seniors on fixed incomes or seniors. who was homeless.

O & # 39; Brien says that unlike small village homes, these structures look more like mini-cottages and may either be alone on a property or land, or be associated with another cottage on a property.

"This alone will not solve 10,000 homeless, but if it can reach 2% or 5%, we will find solutions very quickly that make the difference," he said.