New Tiny Home Village Will Support Pierce County Veterans

ORTING, WA — A brand new tiny home village has opened to support veterans from across Pierce County as they try to escape homelessness.

At its full capacity, the Orting Veterans village will be able to house up to 35 chronically homeless veterans. Organizers with the non-profit Quixote Communities will be hosting a Grand Opening Celebration for the village on May 25, but some residents already moved in starting last week, the News Tribune reports. Another five will be moving in this week.

Organizers say their goal is to give those veterans a stable place to stay as they recover and hopefully eventually transition to more permanent housing.

“They can come here forever and get their sea legs back. And for some that may take a short amount of time, you know, a couple of years. For some, it may take longer,” Orting Veterans Village staff member and military veteran Tod Gunther told KING 5 news.

To create the village, Quixote Communities partnered with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and the Puget Sound Veterans Hope Center to lease just over 5 acres of land at the Washington Soldiers Home in Orting. Crews broke ground on the tiny village in January of last year. Now, despite the pandemic, they've built the 35 tiny homes and are ready to start supporting veterans in need.

According to some residents, the homes are surprisingly comfortable.

“They’re not as tiny as people would imagine,” Burnham said. “It's been a lot of people working for me on my side,” Army veteran Gary Burnham told KING 5.

Organizers say they believe they've got everything they need for now, and are not currently asking for donated goods, but they may need to call on the community for donations of hygiene products, food and clothing as more veterans move in. Cash donations are also currently being accepted.

>> Learn more about the Orting Veterans Village, including how to give or get involved, by visiting Quixote Communities website.