New community to house dozens of homeless individuals breaks ground in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) -Eden Village of Wilmington broke ground Saturday afternoon on their 4.2 acre piece of land that will soon house many chronically homeless individuals.

“Our clubhouse community center, it’s gonna be a 3200 square foot building with office space, dining space, amenities, as the foundation of our community here. 32 tiny homes . . .built throughout next year for the chronically homeless,” said Tom Dalton, head of Eden Village of Wilmington.

Each tiny home is around 400 square feet with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. The small neighborhood will be gated, giving residents a sense of security, while a new roof over their heads gives them a new sense of hope.

During the ground breaking ceremony on Saturday a model home was on site for people to walk through and get a better understanding for what’s to come.

The concept of Eden Village--a tiny home community for chronically homeless people--was founded by David and Linda Brown in Springfield, Missouri. Their goal was to help the homeless population in their hometown, and has since grown to become a nationwide effort to help put an end to homelessness.

“The home is essential, but if you put somebody in a home and they don’t have community, it doesn’t work, so having the community and bringing amenities to them is what makes this work, and this is going to be a wonderful, wonderful village,” David Brown said. “And what it does is dignifies them, our friends that are homeless have no hope, so what we do is give them hope and a chance to change their lives.”

The village will start to see some more action in the coming weeks, as homes will be brought in starting in December. “We’re going to bring four in a month, starting in December. In the meantime we’re also going to be building the community center,” Dalton said. Things could change depending on funding. Right now the start to finish timeline is still up in the air. “The timeline is totally funding dependent,” Dalton said. “We’re hoping to have this thing up with some folks in houses before it gets cold in 2022.”

Funding for Eden Village relies on donations, so they can achieve their overall goal--making sure no one sleeps outside, one tiny house at a time.

There is an extensive application process for Eden Village, and leaders said they’ve already seen interest in around 350 people, but applications aren’t available just yet.

Right now one donor is matching all donations made through the end of the year, up to $600,000.

To learn more about the project and organization, or to donate, click here.

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