Could micro-homes be a solution to homelessness?

You think those new 200-square foot apartments are small? How about 60 square feet?

While Seattle still tries to grapple with the new homeless camps sprouting up along I-5 in downtown Seattle, here’s another approach to people who need cheap housing: build cheap housing.

Cheap as in tiny, one-occupant, micro-homes that can be built for a few thousand dollars.

Reverend Jeff Obafemi Carr is pastor of the Infinity Fellowship in Nashville, Tenn. and he just spent 47 days living in a 60-square-foot micro-house to raise money for a project aimed at housing homeless people. He has a GoFundMe page that has, so far, raised more than $53,000 for the cause.

The idea is that small houses are much safer than tents, although they’re not a whole lot bigger.

“We’re talking about 6×10 foot, repurposed auto trailers &#8212 so 60 square feet,” Carr said. “What’s inside is interesting … they’re on wheels, which allows you to not have to wrestle with codes &#8212 if you lay a foundation you have to deal with codes.”

“On the inside, it’s basically like a miniature home,” he said. “We have a Murphy bed that folds down out of the wall. They have electric outlets &#8212 they are wired for electricity. And each unit will come with a heating/ac unit, a microwave and a miniature refrigerator.”

And what about the bathroom?

“Ya know, that’s the first question everybody asks me,” Carr said. “This unit is designed to be built around a common area that will have a restroom, shower facility and a common kitchen for people to use.”

So, in short, a village of small homes. But it turns out building the homes is the easy part. Sustaining such a community is another thing entirely.

There’s actually a similar village in Olympia called Quixote Village &#8212 as in the story of Don Quixote &#8212 with 30 tiny cottages, a large vegetable garden, and a community building that’s been operating for two years now. But Program Manager Raul Salazar says it took a while to get a stable group of residents.

“In the beginning, our turnover was kind of high because some of them weren’t ready to live in a structured environment; things like drug use, mental health,” Salazar said. “If they weren’t willing to work, get treatment or quit the behavior, we had to ask them to leave. So we did have a decent amount of people that had to go.”

And, of course, the surrounding neighbors had their doubts. But now, he says, the village is stable and the neighbors are on board.

“They’ve said that all the things we were concerned about didn’t happen,” he said. “Crime didn’t go up, we don’t see cops out there all the time. They are not here to cause problems in the neighborhood or to bring anything negative to the neighborhood. They are here to make this a safe place because this is their home now.”

Meanwhile, back in Nashville, Pastor Obafemi knows he’ll have the same challenge.

“It’s just about educating people. Because when they come by and take a look, some people say, ‘Oh, this is a great idea … now, is this going to be built here?'” Carr said. “And I say, ‘Well no, this is just a demo model.’ They say, ‘Oh. Well I’m behind it 100 percent. Let me give you a donation.’ It’s like, anywhere but my backyard.”

Carr has a site with room for 20 homes. He’s now ready to start building the micro-homes for $7,500 each.

After starting the project, he got a little bit of a surprise. He’s getting interest in the micro-homes from people who are not homeless, but want to live small.

“It’s a very affordable model to the point that I’ve had … singers/songwriters, young artists, college students drop by and say, ‘Can you build me one of these, because I’m paying $1,000 in rent on a 500-square-foot place, and I really don’t need that much space. I’d rather have one of these, park this in a friend’s yard and live off of the $150 I give them and then travel around and do experiences outside of the home,'” Carr explained.