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Jul 20, 2023

Inside a tiny home village where you don't have to pay, laundry is free but you have to meet the stay requirements

A TINY home village is providing rent-free living to those most in need in Los Angeles, California. Residents are provided a fully-equipped cabin, laundry services, and three meals a day. Arroyo Seco

A TINY home village is providing rent-free living to those most in need in Los Angeles, California.

Residents are provided a fully-equipped cabin, laundry services, and three meals a day.

Arroyo Seco Tiny Home Village is a new community for homeless residents in Highland Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The village is made up of 117 pre-fabricated cabins, situated on a 6.8-acre former parking lot.

Arroyo Seco is managed by Hope of the Valley, which operates six other tiny home villages for the unhoused in California.

Each shelter only takes the organization 90 minutes to assemble, and most sleep two residents.

Each 64-square-foot cabin has a locking door and four windows.

The cabins are all equipped with heating, cooling, and electricity, while the bathrooms are communal.

Rent is completely free - and there’s even a laundry room that can be used for free too.

Residents are provided with three meals a day and access to mental health and job training services.

Those who wish to support the organization can sponsor a tiny home for $3,000.

Former Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, even lent his support to Arroyo Seco as it opened in 2021.

The City of Angels has struggled with a homelessness issue for decades.

“The common thread among all unsheltered Angelenos is the need for a safe place to sleep while we help them find a stable home and a better future,” said Garcetti in a statement on the community’s website.

Arroyo Seco is far from the only village of its kind.

Over in Austin, Texas, Mobile Loaves and Fishes provides housing to 238 formerly homeless residents.

Rent is not free, but residents have the chance to earn the $225 a month they need with on-site work opportunities.

But, of course, tiny home villages aren’t just for the homeless.

There are communities springing up all over the country for people from all walks of life who have made the decision to downsize.

Acony Bell is an idyllic tiny home village situated among the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina.

And a coastal community in Oregon offers a taste of “tiny tranquility.”