DAVENPORT, Iowa – One Eighty, an organization that helps those with addiction or poverty, is looking to build tiny homes in West Davenport.
“We have 15 to 16 graduates, it’s a 14-month program that’s very structured,” says Rusty Boruff, the Executive Director.
At One Eighty, Boruff has been helping addicts the past ten years in West Davenport celebrate the little wins.
“We found we have a much higher success rate if we continue to offer housing to our residents that’s affordable and also accountable and close to our main campus on Sixth and Marquette Street,” Boruff elaborates.
Currently, he has housing for 80 people split among houses on the campus, but he thinks there’s more opportunity – through downsizing.
“Random lots kind of like we are standing on now that simply you cannot build a full structure house on it, but we can still use it for something,” Boruff says.
That’s how Boruf got the idea to build tiny houses with all the amenities: kitchen, bath, bedroom, and all.
“These little houses would be perfect for you know one mom, or one dad with one or two kids, it’d be the perfect size,” says Shelby Murphy, a neighbor near One Eighty.
The first homes would be built on two pieces of property the organization already owns, but the plan still needs city approval.
“Together we still have to work together for things like building codes because it’s different,” explains Buroff. “It’s new, so there’s going to be hurdles and there’s going to be things that we got to work through.”
Davenport Senior Planning Manager, Matt Flynn, says a tiny home must be at least 24 feet wide or long to meet city code. The tiny homes would be 10 feet wide by 30 feet long.
“By creating something that is $300, $400, $500 a month for your own personalized space that you can take ownership of, you can’t beat that,” Buroff says.
One Eighty is still looking to get approval from the city, they plan on showing them their drafts and drawings in the coming weeks.
The homes would cost $30,000 to build and people in the One Eighty program would be part of the building process.