RICHMOND — A grassy lot has sat vacant in the heart of Richmond for decades. Thanks to the work of local nonprofits and community groups, it will soon be home to a community garden and vibrant tiny homes for unsheltered youth.
The Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm, and Garden, on track to be completed this summer, aims to provide housing to 12 unsheltered individuals ages 18 to 24 while also offering access to healthy, locally grown produce to other young people.
“This is housing for Richmond youth by Richmond youth,” said Sally Hindman, executive director of Tiny Village Spirit, the nonprofit behind the Richmond village and a similar 22-unit site opened in Oakland in 2021.
Once complete, the village will include two yurts, one with a kitchen and dining space and another with a living room and community space; 12 tiny homes designed by University of San Francisco architecture students; and a garden and farm overseen by the Richmond Police Activities League.
The Richmond Police Activities League has long had a similar vision for the site which it leases from the city, said Executive Director Larry Lewis. The idea to build tiny homes on the lot sprang to life years ago as it began subsidizing housing costs for more and more young people involved in the organization’s activities.
Having faced development hurdles dealing with code enforcement and gaining city permission to add housing to the lot, Lewis said the organization planned to instead focus on developing its new culinary center before pivoting to raising funds for the housing project. With the support of Tiny Village Spirit, Lewis said both projects are being developed concurrently and are likely to open around the same time.
“After bringing in Sally and their group, they’ve taken the ball and moved everything forward. It’s a blessing,” Lewis said. “Young people are still struggling with necessities like housing and food. (The Richmond Tiny House Village, Farm, and Garden) will be a great thing to happen for Richmond but it will also be a model for others.”
Of the 2,843 people experiencing homelessness in Contra Costa County, about 7% are under the age of 18 and another 7% are ages 18-24, according to the county’s 2024 Point in Time Count, a single-day survey that aims to gather an estimate of the number of people living without shelter within a given jurisdiction’s boundaries.
A 2024 report commissioned by Contra Costa County that assessed the needs of unsheltered children and young adults found that the number of young people experiencing homelessness greatly outpaces the amount of resources the county has available to care for them and that the group is often not treated as a partner in developing solutions.
The 12 tiny village rooms will double the number of available shelter beds for young people in Richmond, and the organization intends to build more in the future. The need is high, Hindman acknowledged, especially for young people of color and those who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual or queer, a group she said is particularly vulnerable under the new Trump Administration.
Volunteer Ludvig Zethson, of Alameda, left, and his father Torgil Zethson transport a roll of chain fencing during a day of service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Richmond Tiny House Village Farm and Garden in Richmond, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. About 40 volunteers worked today to help complete the project which is scheduled to be finished in July of this year. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
“It’s a way to keep hope alive. At the national level, there are things we can’t control. The project is a way to keep hope alive and to do great things in our communities,” Hindman said. “People care. Our community cares about the wellbeing of young people and their safety.”
The goal is to make the homes feel welcoming and dignifying for those who’ve gone without kind or, at the very least, livable home lives, Hindman added. Each tiny home will be fitted with quilts made by members of the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, art, curtains, chairs, closets and mini fridges.
Murphy beds that fold into a desk, a key element of the homes, are being built by Girls Garage, a Berkeley nonprofit that teaches girls and gender expansive young people carpentry, welding, architecture and art skills with a civically minded focus.
The group is also perfecting and standardizing the Murphy bed design, initially developed by Andy Kahn, said Emily Pilloton-Lam, Girls Garage founder and executive director. Pilloton-Lam, whose organization has worked with Hindman on past initiatives, said she reached out to Hindman about helping with the Richmond project out of love for the mission.
“We all really believe the way in which work is meaningful is through its connection to other people and when it’s a service to the community. These are the things that reinforce our work is of value,” Pilloton-Lam said. “A lot of young people are hungry to find a way to be of service. For some it’s going to protest. This is another way of saying we can teach you carpentry skills and welding, but even better, we can teach other skills that you can put to work to make you feel like part of a solution to a problem.”
Broad community support has been key to moving the project forward, Hindman said. Funding is still needed to move the project across the finish line and the organization is accepting donations through a GoFundMe campaign, but a $300,000 contribution from the Richmond City Council has also been a major help, Hindman said.
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Aside from financial and land contributions, there has been hands-on support during weekly volunteer events where community members have helped with landscaping, installing and painting fencing, preparing foundation for the yurts and prepping the first seven tiny homes for murals that will be painted by local high school students. Applications to paint a tiny home are open until Feb. 15.
“We just love their mission,” said Lauren Halperin with Repair the World, a national Jewish organization that encourages community service whose local chapter volunteered during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Volunteers work on building the foundation for a yurt during a day of service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Richmond Tiny House Village Farm and Garden in Richmond, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. About 40 volunteers worked today to help complete the project which is scheduled to be finished in July of this year. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Ruth Couch was one of dozens of volunteers who spent Martin Luther King Jr. weekend painting wooden panels that will become pieces of the site fence. Hers, she noted, included images of jellyfish, flowers and hearts.
The East Coast resident was in town visiting her brother when she learned of the volunteer event through the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay. Couch said she felt compelled to help in honor of King and his legacy.
“In honor of Dr. King I couldn’t miss a chance to give back. He wanted us to search our souls and change things,” said Couch, an arts and music teacher and daughter of a carpenter. “These are hard times but this gives me a sense of hope.”
