Earlier this month, a mixture of snow and freezing rain set a stark backdrop as 30 residents, including families with children, couples, singles, and people with pets, moved into their new heated and insulated homes at Riverton Tiny House Village in Tukwila. Since then, Riverton’s villagers have had to contend with this season’s challenging winter weather, including the record low temperatures sweeping across the region this week. Life in the village has offered major improvements in warmth and security for residents, many of whom had spent years living in tents on the grounds of Riverton United Methodist Church.
The eighteenth tiny house village opened by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), Riverton offers many features to help its residents stay safe as the temperatures fall below freezing. In addition to their heated tiny homes, residents are able to go to LIHI staff for help obtaining essential items for keeping warm like coats, hats, gloves, blankets, and hand warmers.
Newer villages, like Riverton, also have common kitchen areas built out of repurposed metal shipping containers, an improvement over the industrial tents used in the earlier generation of villages.
“We can do better with a solid structure,” explained Josh Castle, Director of Community Engagement at LIHI, in an interview with The Urbanist. “Shipping containers provide so much more insulation and protection from the snow, which would gather on the tents and cause damage.”
According to Castle, five villages currently use repurposed shipping containers for their kitchen facilities, a number that is expected to increase as older villages receive updates and new villages are created.
Riverton was the second tiny house village to open in Tukwila, a city of about 22,000 residents, since the Tukwila City Council voted to approve the creation of two villages in late spring of 2022. In late October, Miracle Temple Tiny House Village on Interurban Avenue opened its doors to 35 previously unhoused residents.
While LIHI has been able to increase the amount of transitional housing it offers through the villages, Castle was quick to point out that there are still “thousands more people to get inside and get all the assistance they need.”
“We need to open more villages and create more permanent housing,” Castle said, emphasizing the importance of the “rapid acquisition model” through which organizations like LIHI have been able to acquire hotels and apartment buildings that can quickly be converted into shelter and homes for people in need.
One example of rapid acquisition is Dockside Apartments in Greenlake, which was purchased by LIHI with funding assistance from the City of Seattle’s JumpStart payroll tax this past summer. Dockside provides 70 permanent supportive housing (PSH) studio homes for people who have experienced homelessness and 22 studio homes for retail and service workers earning minimum wage.
Communication is essential as temperatures fall below freezing
As it has expanded its tiny house village model, LIHI has refined its methods for when it comes to dealing with freezing temperatures and snow.
The organization has emergency crews on call to help with snow and ice removal. Each village manager is trained to prepare the village by individually checking with residents to make sure the heaters are working properly in their tiny houses and that they have everything they need to keep warm. Village managers also run water to ensure pipes do not freeze during sub zero temperatures.
Providing services to residents is a hallmark of the tiny house village model, and this need for support grows especially acute during dangerous winter weather. In the event that LIHI village staff are unable to travel to the villages because of winter weather, additional staff are on call to jump in and help with needs like making sure someone is available to handle calls and requests at village check-in offices.
“We have really amazing staff,” Castle said. “ If they are not affected by the conditions near their home, they will put in the extra hours and come in when needed.”
When it comes to dealing successfully with the challenges created by freezing temperatures, Castle emphasized that communication is key and makes the difference between people being left outside and being brought into shelter.
This was recently highlighted when several beds were left vacant at Lakefront Community Housing, an enhanced shelter facility operated by LIHI in North Seattle near Aurora Avenue, during a recent cold snap.
“The communication organization of RHA (King County Regional Homeless Authority) could have been better,” Castle said. “We are trying to make sure that people are aware of resources like Lakefront and that means doing outreach effectively so people can get real time information when it’s cold.”
RHA is a new entity and Castle is hopeful that feedback from providers like LIHI will help them communicate more effectively in the future.
“The word is now starting to get out and beds are getting full,” Castle said. “The demand is there if people know about it.”
For the most current information on emergency shelter and warming facilities in Seattle, readers can go to the City’s AlertSeattle blog.
Donations play a vital role in keeping villagers warm
LIHI is able to provide residents with warm clothing and blankets because of the generosity of neighbors providing support through donations.
“Every village has its unique donation needs,” Castle said, “but you can bring donations directly to each village and don’t need to call or email ahead. We always need new or lightly used winter clothing, like coats, hats, and scarves. Unused hygiene items like shampoo or toothpaste are a big help too.”
A list of the 18 tiny house villages’ locations and addresses is available on the LIHI website.
Castle does, however, recommend dropping off donations during the daytime when village staff have the greatest availability to receive them.
Readers interested in learning about specific ways in which they can provide donations and support to tiny house villages in their community are encouraged to reach out by email to Castle directly at josh.castle@lihi.org.
One way to support a tiny house village is to join its Community Advisory Council. CACs meet on a monthly basis and create a connection between local neighbors and the tiny house village staff and residents.
Natalie Bicknell Argerious is a member of the Community Advisory Council for True Hope Tiny House Village.
Natalie Bicknell Argerious (she/her) is a reporter and podcast host at The Urbanist. She previously served as managing editor. A passionate urban explorer since childhood, she loves learning how to make cities more inclusive, vibrant, and environmentally resilient. You can often find her wandering around Seattle's Central District and Capitol Hill with her dogs and cat. Email her at natalie [at] theurbanist [dot] org.