BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – As Washington and other western states have seen a significant uptick in homelessness, a Bellingham organization has stepped up to battle the ongoing epidemic.

HomesNOW! Not Later is an organization that provides housing to people experiencing homelessness, but according to co-director Tina Hayes, they do so much more than that. The tiny home villages built at their locations throughout Bellingham are built from the ground up with donations and by the hands of those already living there.

“These people that live here right now are building the next people’s houses, kind of like a Habitat for Humanity, kind of thing only we don’t have anybody that’s paying for it,” Hayes said. “This is solely ran on donations.”

The villages provide an 8 by 12-foot space for those to recover from being homeless. Each village is outfitted with a communal kitchen and bathrooms as well as outdoor common space.

“It’s a place for you to get better, not to bring your family and communicate and have space for them. It’s for you to get better so you can get that house and be able to be part of your families again,” Hayes added.

“I believe that every human deserves to have a home, and if it means they have to start out from coming from nothing and going into a tiny home for transition, until they’re able to financially get back on their feet or medically get back on their feet.” – Tina Hayes

Following her divorce and some other circumstances, Hayes found herself homeless for a second time in her life after experiencing homelessness as a youth in Bellingham.

“There was always a story of, we’re going to watch the planets, we’re going to watch the stars. We’re going to watch meteor showers or moonlights. What I didn’t know is I was homeless, and we were in our car. That was my mom’s way of trying to make it okay.”

Hayes found her way to HomesNOW when she herself was homeless that second time. Hayes joined the first tiny home village in 2018, at the time called Unity Village, which was started two years earlier. HomesNOW was functioning in Bellingham as a tent encampment before the tiny home villages were constructed according to Hayes.

Hayes lived in the village for five years before moving to permanent housing, allowing her to eventually become a director at HomesNOW. Residents cannot serve on HomesNOW’s board or hold other positions within the nonprofit.

“When it came time for me to finally get housed, they tried five different times to get me into housing, and none of those places worked out for me. They weren’t the right fit for me. And now I finally got into a house a little over a year ago that I finally got stable, into my own apartment, which I never thought I’d be back at that point again,” she said.

Unity Village in Fairhaven and Swift Haven in the Puget neighborhood have since been dismantled, with the houses moved north to North Haven, which is currently under construction. North Haven was a source of controversy as the land the village was supposed to reside backed up to North Coast Credit Union. NCCU has since sold their property on Northwest Avenue to the City of Bellingham.

Tiny homes currently under construction at North Haven on Northwest Avenue. The village is built by current residents at the alcohol and drug-free site ran by HomesNOW! Not Later. Photo by Emma Toscani

Hayes said that HomesNOW’s program offers something that no other shelter in Bellingham allows: time.

“They literally get 90 days at the Lighthouse Mission, and then they have to move on. Here, there is no time limit,” she said. “I don’t believe that in three months a person is stable and ready to move on into housing. They’re just getting their feet back on the ground and getting their health back in order and starting their stability in life, to change their life again.”

Hayes found community with her stint in the tiny home village. She called leaving the village “heartbreaking,” but as a director she gets to orchestrate growing the community she loves.

“I believe that every human deserves to have a home, and if it means they have to start out from coming from nothing and going into a tiny home for transition, until they’re able to financially get back on their feet or medically get back on their feet,” Hayes said.

Hayes described her transition to the tiny home village as scary, as she didn’t know what life had in store for her.

“You’ve got to live with [other people with issues], you’ve got to be able to communicate and get along with who you live with. And I had to learn that it was okay for me to go through that,” she said.

Her old house is in North Haven, and she said the person that took over her unit is now “a breath of fresh air” after becoming sober and finding religion as well as becoming employed at three jobs.

Hayes’ old house in the North Haven tiny home village on Northwest Avenue. Photo by Emma Toscani

“I have many that come back and say, ‘How can I help you?'” Hayes said. “That’s the beautiful factor is how many come back and say ‘And look what I did now. I started a nonprofit to feed people. You inspired me to do that.’ And so, the inspiration of what is happening here is being pulled to other organizations.”

Hayes really believes in what HomesNOW is accomplishing in the community. She said that the organization needs five more villages in Bellingham and Whatcom County to accommodate the number of people experiencing homelessness in the county.

“It costs us less than it does to rent an apartment to take care of all these people. One apartment, one apartment costs more than me to house 25 people, for all the utilities on the property,” she said.

Her time both in the transitional housing and working with HomesNOW has given Hayes insight into how some people can treat those experiencing homelessness. She had strong words to say about easy it can be for someone to find themselves without shelter.

“Stop looking at the word homelessness, because it could be you tomorrow, and only takes one time, and you’re in the same boat, and you’re a human like everybody else. So why are people treated so differently?” she said.

For more information about HomesNOW! Not Later, visit their website at homesnow.org.

We Are Whatcom is a weekly column featuring Whatcom County residents making a positive impact on the community. To submit a Whatcom County resident to be featured, click here.