LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Wednesday morning, Little Rock leaders broke ground on the state's first micro-home village for the homeless.
"I'm very excited about what's about to happen. We've been working on this for quite some time," Little Rock's Housing and Neighborhood Programs Director, Kevin Howard said.
He and other city leaders worked on the micro-home village project for more than three years.
"This is the first Little Rock micro home village of any kind in the state, we do have a tiny home village but it's nothing like this because we have a community center that's 5000 square feet," Howard said.
In that community center, there will be services to try and get the residents moved into a more permanent home.
"We'll work with them on all supportive and wraparound services that they need health services that they need IDs will make sure it gets it in the right IDs and email, the information and anything that they need," He explained.
206 people can stay at the micro-home village at a time with the goal of moving out within three to six months.
"Each case is based on their situation," Howard added.
Even though the most recent numbers have shown homelessness at a 10-year low in the state, Howard explained that a lot of people are not counted.
"We actually see more than about 1,500 individuals have been sheltered on the street each and every night," he said.
Though the village won't end homelessness altogether, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said it's a step in the right direction.
"There's still a long road of work. This is a quilt of solutions. A step in a long journey, but a step in how we grow forward as the state's capitol city ensuring that we see we feel and we hear every resident whether he or she is sheltered or unsheltered," Mayor Scott said.
Howard said the homes should be finished in six to eight months and they expect to spend about $3 million on the project.
