Tiny Home Village Will Help Wildfire Survivors

NW Coastal Housing and community partners broke ground on Tuesday, July 1st, on an innovative Tiny Home Village for Wildfire Survivors and Low-Income Residents. Lincoln City is set to transform housing solutions with a 12-unit tiny home complex designed to address ongoing housing challenges from the 2020 wildfires. The project is a collaborative effort between Northwest Coastal Housing, Coast Vineyard Church, the City of Lincoln City, Lincoln County, and Oregon Housing Community Services. It will provide six units of transitional housing with preferance to wildfire survivors and six units of affordable housing for residents at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI) in north Lincoln County.

Located off Northeast 10th Street, the unique development represents a multi-agency approach to addressing housing insecurity. The modular homes will offer residents not just shelter, but access to comprehensive support services, including navigation assistance, peer support, and proximity to local resources like a food pantry. Sheila Stiley, Director of Northwest Coastal Housing, emphasized the project's significance, noting that many wildfire survivors still struggle to find stable housing five years after the devastating fires.

The complex aims to provide a community-centered solution offering preference for those displaced individuals from the 2020 wildfires. Stiley noted the importance of State Representative David Gomberg's persistent advocacy to continue the funding for this Lincoln City Housing Project. She thanked Representative Gomberg for his relentless legislative work in securing the previously earmarked disaster recovery funding for coastal communities.

During recent state budget hearings, Gomberg forcefully advocated for continued wildfire recovery support, challenging skeptics who believed the 2020 fire recovery was complete. He highlighted the complex federal funding process, emphasizing the extensive red tape that has slowed housing recovery efforts. "Representative Gomberg helped get some of the funding that made this project possible," Stiley said. She was impressed with how Gomberg reminded those in Salem that recovery efforts meant dealing with federal dollars, and all of it has red tape.

Gomberg told the state budget committee, "The red tape just needs to get out of the way so that we can actually start bringing this stuff to completion. Money and funding is beginning to move slowly now to help those wildfire survivors get into more stable housing." "It is beginning to happen," Stiley said. These projects are beginning to be completed, and people are beginning to be made whole. Construction is slated for completion by year's end, marking a significant milestone in Lincoln County's wildfire recovery efforts. Special thanks to RK Construction and NW Homes for their commitment and work on this project.