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TINY HOMES OFFER HOPE FOR HOMELESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN EL CAJON

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 * October 2022 Articles

 * El Cajon
 * tiny homes
 * helping women and children

By Christianne McCormick

October 21, 2022 (El Cajon) – Colorful tiny homes now occupy a formerly vacant
lot at Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon. Built by the nonprofit Amikas, the
tiny homes were completed last month and will soon serve as safe, temporary
havens for women and children experiencing homelessness.

Pastor Ronald Slade, who is also serves as a board member for Amikas, explained
the lot’s recent history to East County Magazine (ECM). “We were just growing
tumbleweeds on this lot. The unofficial nickname for the congregation was
‘tumbleweed village,’” he recalled.



Pastor Slade first heard about Amikas’ tiny home idea from reading an article in
the San Diego Union Tribune. The article was a feature on how Amikas had their
display cabin in downtown San Diego. That display unit now serves as cabin seven
in the church’s tiny home complex.

“I was raised out here and people in East County, we are not going to go
downtown to see it,” Slade says, adding that he encouraged Amikas to build units
here in El Cajon on the church site that the congregation wasn’t using.

Slade showed ECM a few of the cabins, which are still vacant, but the church has
plans to have each unit occupied by the beginning of next month.

“Each one will be furnished. It will have a bed for the woman and depending on
the size and ages of the child, either a playpen, pack and play, pack and sleep,
or toddler bed or maybe even another twin size bed,” Pastor Slade said. “They
all have a computer so they can go online if they need to do some application
stuff,” said Slade. “Each woman with her child will also be welcomed with a gift
basket on her day of arrival. It’s got some water, some snacks and stuff, in it
a little note that says they are loved and cared for cause that’s the
overarching message. We want these ladies to know that they are valued and that
we are not looking past them.”

Each 126 square foot cabin provides 96 square feet of living space, is
insulated, and comes equipped with a solar fan and heater. There is a light
overhead and electrical outlet plugs equipped with USB ports. Each cabin is
identical inside, but the furniture within each unit varies. At the front of
each door there is a white board to help the tenants keep up with their
appointments.

All the cabins have an eco-friendly design as well. Pastor Slade showed ECM that
the beams are made with a unique design. There are two divided sections of the
beam shaped like the letter “I” with a stud in between them. This unique design
allowed builders to use a third of the wood it would normally take to build a
cabin of that size while still retaining its strength.

“We’ve used everything. Even in shaving the wood, the shavings that came out of
this went to become bedding at a lama farm. We’re not throwing this stuff away,”
the Pastor explained.  

According to the contract the organization has with the city, a woman with her
children can stay at one of the six cabins for 90 days. Then from there they’d
go on to permanent supportive housing or long term transitional housing.

When asked why did the church and Amikas aim to help specifically women and
children experiencing homelessness, Pastor Slade responded, “That is Amikas’
mission statement: ‘working with every woman and child in San Diego County so
that San Diego is a safe place to live,’ so we can get behind that as a church.
We want the women that are living unsheltered to be safe as well so we said we
can do that part. It fits with our part, our mission to be a blessing to all the
people to every person that we meet every day.

Slade continued, “Amikas will maintain the cabins because they own the cabins
and our responsibility as a congregation is to love on the ladies and not to
impose. We want them to be safe here and know they’re valued, protected, loved,
and cared for and so that’s where we come in and that’s what we will do.”

Unlike some homeless shelters that have a religious foundation which require
tenants to adhere to certain religious practices, Pastor Slade said that it
won’t be required of the women seeking shelter at Meridian Baptist Church.

“When the ladies come and live in the village, they’re not going to be required
to participate in any of our religious services or any of the things that we do
here at the church,” Pastor Slade said, but added, “My hope though, is that
because we loved them and cared for them, they’ll want to be a part of it. It
will be their choice. I think if we do our job or we do what’s right that’s what
will happen. They will come and say I really want to be a part of this this
church since it has been a blessing to me.”

Slade continued, “I’m looking forward to that first group of ladies that gets
placed that come into the village. When they leave, that’s one of the things we
haven’t really figured out yet-- how we will celebrate them moving on to their
next housing.”

Pastor Slade has an extensive career working with health and human services
aside from being a religious representative.

“There is definitely a difference in women experiencing homelessness from the
rest of the population experiencing homelessness,” he told ECM. “Especially with
women with children, they are really trying to go way under the radar because
they have the fear that child protective services is going come take their child
away you know because they’ve endangered their child.”

Slade described the challenges a parent would face trying to get a child back
from the foster care system, which he has personally witnessed as both a pastor
and someone who worked in health and human services. “We can’t just hang out a
sign that says, ‘Here--come,’ because they’ll think that you’re trying to dupe
them to give up their children. So we really have to build that trust and that’s
where I think HomeStart comes in, because they’re out there every day.”

Women and their children will have access to services, restroom facilities, and
food distribution.

The tiny homes community is the first approved by the city of El Cajon as a
pilot project that could be replicated if successful.

Even though the ribbon cutting for the tiny homes occurred in September, more
construction is planned, with additional upgrades to the site in the works.
“After we get these six cabins occupied and working with HomeStart, we might be
able to finish it off with four more cabins and a central kind of area room.
Maybe turn unit seven into a sleeping cabin so we would end up with ten or
eleven,” says Slade. Cabin seven is currently being used as a place for the case
manager to work with each woman regarding their circumstances and goals.  

The hardscape has yet to be placed down, but Pastor Slade shared with ECM what
blueprints they have in mind. “The hardscape is going to have a central
congregational area and the paths are all connected so it shows that it is a
community. There is no straight path because it wasn’t a straight path to get
here.” Slade continues, “One of the things that it’s going to have in the center
will be a seven pronged starfish. Going off of the starfish story which has been
a popular story for Amikas and its really kind of an inspiration for what we are
doing.”

The starfish story that serves as an inspiration for Amikas is about how a
little boy throws a starfish back into the bay because the tide has receded,
exposing thousands of starfish to the elements placing their lives in danger. An
old man approaches the boy and brings to his attention all of the other starfish
that are lain out on the beach that need help, suggesting the boy’s efforts may
not make a difference. The little boy responds to the old man by saying, “Well,
it made a difference for that one.”

After Slade explained the story to ECM he added, “That’s the intent. Folks have
said, `You know, you’re only building six. Well, if we build six, that’s six
people off the street. There’s 1,700 congregations or houses of faith in San
Diego. If just 1,000 of them built six that would be 6,000 of them. This isn’t
the solution to homelessness,” he acknowledges, but adds, “It’s one step in
solving the problem.”

 



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COMMENTS


THIS IS A VERY GOOD IDEA

Submitted by santeecitizen on Sat, 10/22/2022 - 16:34

it would be better if the cities and county could get some tax money from this.
it is also a good idea that other churches with large parking lots should
consider. the church could encourage carpooling to free up parking lots. there
are a lot of churches with way more parking than they need.
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WAY TO GO!

Submitted by Don Bacon on Sat, 10/22/2022 - 09:10

Meridian Baptist Church is showing the way with six, now the area needs a
thousand more!
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