SALISBURY, Md.- The Tiny Home Village is up on Anne Street in Salisbury. The tiny homes are for the chronically homeless. Salisbury's Housing and Homelessness Manager Christine Chestnutt says housing is critical for one's mental health.
"Living in fight or flight mode, constantly, that's the chaos they are living in because of the situation, it's hard to focus on doctor's appointments, or getting a job," said Chestnutt. "The whole idea is to get them connected when they move in, get them connected to the resources they need which is different for every individual, but to get them the resources they need to get into permanent housing."
There are 24 tiny homes and a communal bathroom. Inside the home there will be a bed, shelves, a refrigerator and microwave. There will also be heating and air conditioning. People who are not allowed include anyone convicted of a sex offense, convicted of murder, arson or producing methamphetamine. Everyone must be older than 18 and only one person per home. Chestnutt says the city could have purchased bigger tiny homes, but single were more conducive for Salisbury.
"They make them to have two sets of bunk beds for families but thankfully most of the chronically homeless that we have are individuals not families," said Chestnutt.
Ultimately, Chestnutt say this is transitional housing.
"Ideally we can get them connected to all the things that they need, whether it's ID, social security birth certificate, all the things and get them out of here and into permanent housing and make the bed ready for the next person so that's the goal, we don't want anyone to stay here we want them to move forward and progress," said Chestnutt.
Saturday September 17, volunteers will be needed to build a fence around the perimeter of the village.