Mayor Hancock’s Second Visit to Tiny Home Village

Colorado Village Collaborative

Building Villages. Building Community.

October 9, 2017 — Upon the request of his office, and agreement by the Village Council, Mayor Hancock made his second visit to the Beloved Community Tiny Home Village on Friday, October 6. While he was there, he toured the village, checked out the gardens, saw the Bayuad Enterprises Laundry truck in action, and engaged in dialogue with the villagers in their new community space.

While most villagers were out working, some were able to share some stories with the Mayor about the difficulties that they have had accessing the shelter system, and the trauma that they have experienced being “swept” by police on the streets due to the Unauthorized Camping Ban (a.k.a. “Survival Ban”). The villagers explained that due to criminalization, and barriers to accessing shelters they had no place to go until they worked together to build this village.

The problem, of course, is that much like our friends still sleeping on the streets who face “moving dates” each minute, this village faces an upcoming moving date in January. The villagers explained that the Colorado Village Collaborative has successfully developed a form of housing that is 1) Quick to build, 2) “Attainably” priced, 3) Community based, and 4) Environmentally friendly, but right now the biggest barriers to building upon its success and continuing to scale this movement are 1) Land and 2) Zoning Policies.

Colorado Village Collaborative told the Mayor that the City of Denver needs to preserve and prioritize land for the poor in the midst of the urban core, and needs to change the zoning code so that citizens can continue to work together as a community to build villages where our friends and neighbors on the streets can have a safe, dignified space to build life-sustaining community and thrive.

Before the Mayor left, a group photo was taken, and with a smile on his face, the Mayor said,  “This is working very well.” We only hope that good sentiment will lead to the changes needed in order to make land and housing available for our friends still deeply engaged in the struggle of life on the streets.

Eleven tiny homes are only the beginning. Now is the time to build quick and attainable housing. #movealongtowhere?