Wilmington's amazing tiny home village for the homeless expands, 3-D printing to soon help

On a recent morning, Wayne Jenkins stooped over to tend a fledgling cabbage plant as heavy machinery whirred in the background.

For Jenkins, tending the garden at Eden Village is a type of therapy. Nearly every day, he rides his blue motor scooter from his home at the Salvation Army to the garden. Sometimes he even shows up on Sundays just to sit and take it all in.

But that morning stood out from the rest as he got to watch as a towering crane lifted his home onto its foundation.

"It's a little overwhelming, but things are going together for good," Jenkins said when asked what it felt like to see the home put into place.

Shawn Hayes, the on-site manager for Eden Village of Wilmington, said seeing the homes on their foundations felt "surreal" and is a sign that the group's hard work was paying off.

In all, four new homes were placed on their foundations this week in Eden Village.

More: Community celebrates groundbreaking for new tiny home village for homeless in Wilmington

More: First tiny home for the homeless arrives at Eden Village of Wilmington

With each passing week, the community of modular homes grows more complete although the project is far from finished.

The neighborhood is taking shape on four acres of land off of Kornegay Avenue between Creekwood and MLK Parkway. The $4.3 million community plans to add four homes each month until it reaches 31 tiny homes.

That's the goal outlined by Tom Dalton and his wife Kim Dalton for Eden Village, a tiny home community designed to house those who are both chronically homeless and have a physical or mental disability.

Tom Dalton, an anesthesiologist at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and Kim Dalton, a retired nurse, hope permanent housing will lower the number of emergency room visits for Wilmington's chronically homeless and decrease other societal costs tied to homelessness.

Eden Village of Wilmington brought in its first home in January 2021 and formally broke ground on its community center last fall.

Residents won't move into their homes until the community center is complete, Tom Dalton said, and that makes progress on the center the group's next priority. Even with donated materials and work, they still need to raise at least $800,000 more to build it.

Volunteers and donations

So far, they've done it all with donations and volunteers. On a recent morning, a dozen high school students helped Jenkins tend the community garden abutting the homesites and picked up trash. Others have helped put up a wooden fence around the garden and donated construction materials, Tom Dalton said.

With the sewer and water infrastructure in place, all they need are foundations laid and the modular homes themselves.

Each 400-square-foot home is built and shipped trim, appliances and all from Laurinburg, North Carolina. The only thing missing is furniture and other furnishings, which are often donated.

Even though they're tiny homes, they certainly aren't small. There's enough space for a combined living room and kitchen along with a separate bedroom and adjoining bathroom.

They were designed that way, Tom Dalton said, to make sure their new residents feel at home. Each home costs $40,000 and those who sponsor the homes get to pick out some features, including the type of flooring and backsplash, Kim Dalton said.

The community is modeled after another tiny home neighborhood in Springfield, Missouri. Residents will pay $300 monthly rent, which includes utilities. They also have to commit to living free of crime and drugs and abiding by the community's rules.

Those chosen to live at Wilmington's Eden Village need to have been homeless for more than one year and have a mental or physical disability.

Thet are already tracking 30 prospective residents for Eden Village, and they're tracking another 40 for a second tiny home community near the first. They received approximately 350 applications to live in the village.

The average age of prospective residents is 55 and most are men who are Black, according to data provided by Tom Dalton. A majority of them are living with at least two physical or mental health issues.

Tom Dalton has contracted with Florida-based 3-D printing company Apis Cor to print the cinderblocks that would make up the exterior of their second village. That project is still in the "preliminary stages," the Daltons said, as they are now focused on completing their first tiny home village.

Creating community, spreading support

Along the way, the project has had a few stumbles. Construction costs, for instance, have climbed since the Daltons began their work. The first home they brought on site cost $43,000. In their most recent home purchase, the modular houses cost $76,000.

They've also hit some learning curves when it comes to meeting development standards outlined by the city of Wilmington. Tom Dalton said he thinks municipalities should consider revisiting their land development codes to make it easier to build tiny home communities like Eden Village.

In addition to housing, the community will provide residents access to medical care and a volunteer social worker. The village's community center will also offer computer access, a laundry room, space for shared meals and a cold-weather shelter.

"When you deal with homelessness, it's not just about getting people a place to live. It's getting them a community of support," Tom Dalton said.

The village will provide residents with a "home team," a group of four to six volunteers who will spend time with the residents, share a meal at least once a month and offer them support, Kim Dalton said.

The vision for Eden Village is steadily coming into focus. They've hired an on-site manager to coordinate volunteers and have a social worker who helps process applications and track potential residents.

Tom Dalton said he hopes to finish the community by the end of the year if the funding and scheduling falls into place, he said.

"The nice time about this project is you can just put housing in as the funding is available," he said. "We don't have to build the whole big thing on time."

He believes the tiny home community could make a dent in reducing the number of chronically homeless living in Wilmington's shelters and on the streets.

"Small homes are a great way to live with dignity at a reasonable price point," he said, "and I think ultimately could be the answer for all of our affordable housing woes."

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington's Eden Village plans for another tiny home community