Microhouses replace tents at Olympia’s mitigation site
Aaron Sauerhoff is walking backwards, beckoning a forklift into a tight turn. There’s not much room to maneuver between the chain link fence and a row of tents to his right, which are sectioned off with caution tape.
To Sauerhoff’s left, you can see his vision for this Tuesday morning: a row of 11 microhouses, arranged similar to rowhouses along a city street.
After some adjustments, the forklift gently drops another microhouse into place on top of four foundation blocks, which were laid moments prior by Sauerhoff’s team, including two men who are several decades his senior.
The two men, Shawnne Smith and James Chilton (who goes by the name “Chilly Dawg”) have been working to construct microhouses with Earth Homes LLC, a company founded by Sauerhoff that styles itself as an ecologically and socially conscious builder. Sauerhoff also is a member of Olympia’s Planning Commission.
Smith and James also are residents of downtown Olympia’s homeless mitigation site, where the microhouses are being delivered, and where 70 people live — until recently, all in tents.
The drop-off is part of a $172,000 city effort to replace every tent at the mitigation site with a microhouse. The company was given a budget of $12,000 to hire site residents to help with construction, which they’ve been doing for the past few months at warehouse space donated by the Port of Olympia. They’ve already spent that budget, but Earth Homes executive officer Rabi Verdante says several people have continued to help out on a volunteer basis.
“What I’m overall seeing is a transformation of self-worth and efficacy, a greater sense of purpose,” Verdante said.
Tuesday’s installment was the third batch of the 60 total microhomes the company is building, with another 10 to be assembled by the YouthBuild program, a program that teaches trade skills to local high school students.
The microhouses are small, 8 feet by 8 feet, but more sophisticated than their namesake, the plywood sheds built by super-volunteer Jeff Loyer and delivered to the encampment along Olympia’s Wheeler Road, which he modeled on chicken coops.
The biggest difference: These microhomes have doors that lock, windows that open, insulation, and a metal roof.
City officials credit Loyer with inspiring the project and providing a model to work from, but described these microhouses as a different creation.
“It’s a better living condition for everyone to have some kind of warmth and water protection,” said Smith, who took a break from measuring out spaces in between foundation blocks to talk with The Olympian.
Smith currently lives in what’s called a Conestoga Hut, a small clamshell-shaped structure similar to a microhouse, but before that he was in a tent. He said he’s been homeless since he was released from prison several years ago.
Working on a project that benefits his neighbors, Smith said, has been a rewarding experience.
“You’re starting to get a sense of yourself again,” Smith said. “Going back to work with Earth Homes, that’s even made me feel even more like a man, because now I have a sense of responsibility, a purpose now. And that is a big, big change for me.”
Chilton, 54, described the homes as a stepping stone. A former truck driver and military veteran, he said the stability of having a warm, dry space of his own has helped him on his recovery from addiction.
“You’ve got to give people hope and inspiration in order to move on and pick up the pieces from their life and put it back together,” Chilton said.
This story was originally published May 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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