The Jackson City Council approved funding Tuesday for a new project to build tiny houses for homeless people.The director of the Jackson Resource Center said the reaction was positive when she told business owners about her plan to build dozens of tiny homes to house people experiencing homelessness.Emotions boiled over during a heated discussion about the subject during Tuesday’s city council meeting. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba wants to spend $3 million in federal funds to build homes for homeless people.“Where is the $3 million to help the elderly folks to renovate their homes and fix their roofs? Where is the $3 million to clean up the abandoned properties?” asked Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley.The goal is to build 60 tiny homes to serve an unhoused population now living on the streets. They will be located on a vacant lot on Capers Avenue, off Capital Street. Opponents, like west Jackson resident Sheila Harper, say their voices are not being heard.“How can we grow as a community when we have the mayor that’s not listening to us? And we have our city council not listening to us?” Harper said.Harper believes building the project will hurt property values and drive people away from the neighborhood that she said has been struggling to come back.“It’s wrong at all levels when you tell a community, ‘We don’t care. We’ve really got this plan, and whether y’all like it or not, you might as well eat it, because it’s going to happen,’” Harper said.The head of the resource center said residents of the tiny homes will be required to work and pay 30% of their income in rent.“And the more houses we can provide to take them off the street where they can afford it, then the more individuals we’ll see being productive in their day-to-day lives,” said executive director Putalamus White.The Mississippi Department of Corrections will use inmate labor to build the homes on prison grounds. The first one should be ready by early spring.
The Jackson City Council approved funding Tuesday for a new project to build tiny houses for homeless people.
The director of the Jackson Resource Center said the reaction was positive when she told business owners about her plan to build dozens of tiny homes to house people experiencing homelessness.
Emotions boiled over during a heated discussion about the subject during Tuesday’s city council meeting. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba wants to spend $3 million in federal funds to build homes for homeless people.
“Where is the $3 million to help the elderly folks to renovate their homes and fix their roofs? Where is the $3 million to clean up the abandoned properties?” asked Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley.
The goal is to build 60 tiny homes to serve an unhoused population now living on the streets. They will be located on a vacant lot on Capers Avenue, off Capital Street. Opponents, like west Jackson resident Sheila Harper, say their voices are not being heard.
“How can we grow as a community when we have the mayor that’s not listening to us? And we have our city council not listening to us?” Harper said.
Harper believes building the project will hurt property values and drive people away from the neighborhood that she said has been struggling to come back.
“It’s wrong at all levels when you tell a community, ‘We don’t care. We’ve really got this plan, and whether y’all like it or not, you might as well eat it, because it’s going to happen,’” Harper said.
The head of the resource center said residents of the tiny homes will be required to work and pay 30% of their income in rent.
“And the more houses we can provide to take them off the street where they can afford it, then the more individuals we’ll see being productive in their day-to-day lives,” said executive director Putalamus White.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections will use inmate labor to build the homes on prison grounds. The first one should be ready by early spring.
