New Bern project builds hope, breaks barriers one tiny home at a time
A project nearly five years in the making that seeks to provide permanent housing for those in need kicked off its first construction project in downtown New Bern this week.
The Home Transitional Network, a collaboration between the New Bern nonprofit Wash Away Unemployment and local sponsors and volunteers began the construction of its first ‘tiny home’ project on September 20 at the vacant lot located at 1004 Queen Street.
Home Transitional Network’s mission is to provide services to individuals facing housing and other obstacles due to prior arrests and convictions. The group’s mission statement reads, “We believe a person’s past should not hinder their future success nor condemn them to a life of stigma and adversity.”
Approximately 16 local volunteers welded hammers, saws and nail guns in the 90 degree heat last week to lay the foundation, stand the walls and raise the roof on the first of what the group hopes will be a succession of home building projects.
The plan calls for the home to be completed by October 5 with an open house celebration set for October 8 featuring guest speakers, music and other entertainment.
The home will remain at the Queen Street site for approximately two months and then be moved to a new location.
The home is being built for Kevin Smith, a current resident of the Bailey Springs Hope homeless shelter in Vanceboro. Smith said he has known about the project for several months but only realized it was actually happening several days ago.
“Sometimes you hear about things and then they don’t happen, so I wasn’t sure,” Smith said. “I’m a little shocked. I’m honored because I never thought I’d have a permanent residence until I was in a nursing home.”
A Michigan native who previously served time in prison, Smith said has lived on and off in Craven County for the last six years. Having lived at Bailey Springs Hope intermittently since moving arriving in North Carolina, Smith said he hasn’t had a place to truly call his own since 2007.
“Since 2016 I’ve been in the hospital 12 times. Usually it’s been averaging about three times a year with infections and other things. I had two toes removed on my left foot and three quarters of a toe on the left foot,” said Smith, who is confined to a wheelchair most days.
According to Corey Purdie, founder of both Wash Away Unemployment and Bailey Springs Hope, Smith’s new home will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant to accommodate his health status. The home will measure 12x24 and 288 square-feet and will be geared for Smith’s wheelchair, with wider doors and a roll in shower.
Purdie said the designs for future tiny homes projects will also conform to the needs of individual owners.
“Anybody that wants to build a house we can build with this process,” he commented.
A crucial step back into society
Purdie said he began to put together plans for a tiny homes project in 2017.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet that this is really happening,” he commented last Wednesday, as he watched volunteers put the finished walls in place. “I got six calls today for people who need homes. I’m grateful for the launch but there’s so much need out there.”
Purdie said home ownership is a crucial step toward reintegrating those who have been involved in the criminal justice system back into society. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, each year more than 22,000 inmates are released from North Carolina's state prison system.
“Not having to go back into a congregating environment, like a shelter, but to be able to come back into the community and have a true opportunity just to live life without all those barriers, that’s a big step,” Purdie said.
The house will stay at the Queen Street location for several months to introduce to the New Bern community the concept behind the tiny homes project and Home Transitional Network’s mission.
“We can build these walls and it just becomes a house. But what makes it a home is each individual in the community coming together, the churches, professional organizations, mentors and people that want to surround that person with love,” Purdie noted.
According to Purdie, the initial build is being sponsored by the North Carolina AARP. The project has also garnered support from Chick-fil-A, Angel Oak Creative marketing agency of Raleigh, Resourceful Communities Conservation Fund, and the Namowicz Marketing Group of New Bern.
Namowicz Marketing Group CEO Susan Namowicz, who currently oversees marketing duties for Home Transitional Network, said she hopes the Queen Street build is a first step toward providing a better life for those previously incarcerated.
Namowicz said at some point Home Transitional Network hopes to build an area for a tiny homes community where wraparound services can be provided.
“This is not just building a tiny home, this is building a new beginning for a lot of folks, with no barriers,” she commented. “We don’t have the second house funded yet but we’re working on that. We’re investigating the sponsorships and funding. Once they see the completed house we hope the interest will keep growing.”
Ginger Malcom, CEO of REAL Foundation, inc,, is a drug counselor and peer support specialist who knows first hand the challenges faced by those with criminal records.
As someone with criminal charges dating back 16 years, she said she still faces daily discrimination.
“It’s as though the day we walk out of incarceration our debt is not paid in full, our interest is compounded daily and we continue to be stigmatized,” Malcom said.
Successfully transitioning back into society requires the support of a number of different agencies, Malcom said. Those coming out of prison, especially those with drug convictions, face barriers to resources such as food, education and employment as well, she noted.
“One thing that will help make these communities successful is not just providing the home and empowering individuals to have their own space. At the same time you have to get to the trauma, you have to get to the therapeutic piece,” Malcom said. “There’s a core reason why they were incarcerated, so they need services that can empower them to be better people and to understand how they got to where they are today.”
To find out more about Home Transitional Network volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.wash-away.org or call 252-721-9274.
Reporter Todd Wetherington can be reached by email at wwetherington@gannett.com. Please consider supporting local journalism by signing up for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern project builds hope, breaks barriers one tiny home at a time
