McMinnville Homeless Effort Looks To Start Transitional Community

The Homeless of McMinnville Effort, or HOME, is trying to set up a micro home community with help from the city.

Co-Directors Sheila Fann and Tina Higgins said the city is helping them find property to start the community. Fann said after only one year of HOME, they’re on the cusp of their dream becoming a reality.

“It’s centralized so that they have to go to obtain the necessary things that they need to become productive members of society,” Fann said. “Resources for ID’s, jobs, apply for housing. It will be the bridge, because sometimes the problem is that with low-income housing the waiting list can be up to a year.”

Co-Director Higgins said this will be a transitional community with strict guidelines. That includes being from Warren County for a certain period of time.

“It is not permanent housing, it is to get them to their next step,” Higgins said. “It will be strict guidelines, no drugs, alcohol on premises. There will be a curfew, we’re not going to be their jailer but there will be rules in place that they will have to abide by.”

Fann said the goal is to create a self sustaining community, including plans to farm their own food. Both directors said having community and government support is huge for this effort.

“First, we thank God and then our community for making this happen,” Fann said. “For seeing the need, and not just in Warren County, it’s every county. So, we are hoping that our surrounding counties and their surrounding counties will want to grasp this concept, as well and just see what it means to so many.

At this time HOME is looking for builders, building materials and help with landscaping for the micro home community.

“We are now entering a whole new realm, in the past it’s been we need food, blankets, things such as that to keep these people going,” Higgins said. “This is gonna be a whole new realm because we’re going to need people that can help get this community going.”