New London ― Formed less than a year ago, a committee of four are advocating to give the formerly incarcerated a second chance, and it comes in the shape of a tiny home.

The Second Chance Tiny House project has a goal of creating a tiny home community in New London of homes likely 160 square feet that are self-powered and transportable to “set up a support village for folks getting out of prison,” said Katherine Brown. The number of homes is dependent on the lot size they attain.

The idea, however, is likely to face major zoning challenges.

Brown is a member of the project’s committee and the employment coordinator at the Homeless Hospitality Center. She said a tiny home community could provide people with the support to not return to prison.

Members of the committee work for different social agencies and organizations and are aware of the issues those transitioning out of prison face― one of the biggest being housing.

Formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public, according to a study by Prison Policy Institute in 2018.

Oshun Vicente, a committee member and director of reentry services at New London’s OIC, said close to 50% of those that come into reentry services are in unstable housing or are without housing.

Vicente is also the co-chair of the Southeastern Connecticut Reentry Council made up of community members working together to provide resources for individuals returning to the community after incarceration. She said the council sparked the idea of tiny homes for returning individuals in the area.

“If we can’t address housing, we can’t address health, mental health and job insecurities,” she said.

Also a part of the project committee are Justin Good of the Sanctuary, a land trust in East Haddam, and Denise Boyd of the Reentry council. Brown said the project is not sponsored by the organizations they work for.

Vicente said she often finds people who were formerly incarcerated go to live in sober homes or halfway homes and it works well for some and keeps people safe. But those with PTSD or other issues may struggle with a roommate and find it similar to cell living.

“Tiny homes is not for everyone but it would be a viable resource for those seeking independent living and ready to transition into permanent housing,” Vicente said.

Brown said the committee hopes to be able to provide onsite wrap around services for those residing in the tiny home community such as medical check ups, counseling, addiction recovery, employment search support, and training in household management and culinary skills.

“They need affordability, personal space and support to do well,” Brown said.

Compared to renting an apartment or room in a sober home, Brown said the rent for a tiny home could be a lot more affordable. She said it is around $30,000 to build one and she is hoping to offer rent in the range of $400 to $500 a month but that is not set in stone.

In addition, she said the tiny homes could be “self-contained” with compost toilets and solar panels.

Brown said there are a number of tiny home communities across the country such as in Colorado and New York that are finding success with the model.

“This is coming our way and we can either be on the front end of it or the back,” Brown said.

Brown said they are looking at properties but nothing has been proposed to the city yet. She said their biggest thing right now is getting support from the community and local politicians. She said they have a website, Facebook page and a GoFundMe page.

She said the money they fund raise will go promoting the project, pay for the legal process involved and to build the first tiny home.

The city’s Planning and Zoning Office said it has not been contacted by any potential developers or advocates for any such development.

Good said there are no zoning codes for tiny houses in the state, calling it an innovation. Since the tiny homes are mobile and would not be connected to plumbing systems, Good said they are not allowed under zoning for houses and would be considered “a trailer” under camping ground regulations.

But family campgrounds allow people to live in campers during a limited season and time. He said some towns even have ordinances dating back to the 1950s that prohibit people from living in campers.

At this time, Good said the easiest path to allow the zoning of a tiny home village is to ask that a family camp ground be allowed for year-long use.

“Since it’s innovative, there is a lot of ground work to be done,” Good said. “There is a 50 year time gap in zoning.”

He said the committee is still looking for a site to determine the details of what they can do and then they can present it to the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission.

He added the Southeastern Connecticut Community Land Trust is interested in purchasing the land. Good said if they were to purchase it, the land trust could lease the land to them at a low price, further allowing them to offer low rents or even rent to own options.

Vicente said some people understand that formerly incarcerated people are no longer in debt to society and face barriers after they leave prison. But she said to some, people that were incarcerated have to spend their lives paying that debt to society. Going forward with the project, Vicente said it is smart to be aware there are biases.

However, she said, “Across the state there has been a big movement to change that mindset and this is apart of that.”

j.vazquez@theday.com

Editor’s note: this article has been updated to correctly reflect where Justin Good works.