Can These ‘Tiny Houses’ Help Ease Homelessness In NJ?

NEWARK, NJ — A group of undergraduate students at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have come up with a “tiny” solution that may be a big help easing Newark’s long-running housing crisis.

According to their alma mater, the idea was born when Newark city officials reached out to faculty and students at the NJIT architecture program. The goal? Develop a prototype affordable housing unit that can provide shelter to people experiencing homelessness.

Their reply? A flexible, “easily deployed” home that measures just 8 feet by 12 feet.

The project, wholly designed and built by the students and professors, was also inspired by the growing alternative housing movement, which includes the “trendy, Instagrammable phenomena” known as tiny homes.

According to the design team, the small-but-cozy houses may be a way to tap into mass-production technology such as 3D printing, which is already revolutionizing the way U.S. society creates housing.

More people are experiencing homelessness in Essex County than any other part of the state, according to Monarch Housing Associates’ 2021 Point-in-Time count of homeless residents. As in years past, the county led New Jersey in the number of homeless residents with 1,693 – about 21 percent of the entire state's total. And about 85.9 percent of those counted in Essex County live in Newark – the state's most populated city.

• See related article: Essex County Still Has The Most Homeless People In New Jersey

It’s a problem that may be impossible to fix with architecture alone, no matter how cutting-edge it may be, according to Erin Pellegrino and Charlie Firestone, adjunct professors at NJIT's Hillier College of Architecture and Design. But that doesn’t mean they’re not trying, the educators added.

“Homelessness is a real and pressing challenge for the world we live in, and our community in Newark has the potential to create meaningful change,” Firestone said.

Christopher Watson, Newark’s planning officer, said that access to shelter remains “an equity issue” on the national level, as well as in the Brick City. And ideas such as NJIT’s tiny houses are an excellent example of the different approaches that the community needs to take to address the issue, he added.

Sakinah Hoyte, the city’s homelessness czar, asked the design team to consider three “extremely vulnerable groups” who need housing:

• People with disabilities and other health issues
• People who have partnered for safety on the street and that need to be housed together
• People who need shelter from domestic violence who often have children with them

It's a steep request for someone still in college. But students like Pramit Khatri say they’re up for the challenge.

“I'm inspired by what it stands for, it is trying to solve something for the city of Newark,” Khatri said, pointing out that the NJIT tiny houses can be “deployed and easily moved from one site to another.”

“There's a lot of stigma that surrounds homelessness and I think this is a really dignified way of solving it,” Khatri added. “This design is more of a home than a shelter.”

The project got a big thumbs up from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

“We believe that every person in Newark deserves the dignity and safety that comes with having stable housing,” Baraka said. “We applaud the NJIT students and professors for taking a serious look at the housing crisis in Newark, and using their knowledge to create a viable, functioning home that can help solve one of the most important issues of our time.”

• See related article: Newark Transforms Empty Storage Containers Into Homeless Shelters
• See related article: Newark Building Will Be A Safe Space For Homeless LGBTQ Youth
• See related article: Newark Is Turning An Old School Into A Huge Homeless Shelter

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