Volunteers build furniture for future tiny house community on Jacksonville’s westside

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Coming soon to the westside: a tiny community with a big impact.

“It’s a new community. I think it’s one of the first in Jacksonville so it’s very exciting to have us out here today,” JEA spokeswoman Simone Garvey-Ewan said.

JEA volunteers were hard at work Friday morning assembling furniture for 50 tiny homes.

“This has been an awesome project to work on because there was just so much of a contribution given from the community to this type of housing which is sorely needed in Jacksonville,” HabiJax Construction Director Tom Cassaro said.

The tiny home community is a joint effort between JEA and HabiJax to bring affordable living to Jacksonville.

HabiJax CEO Monte Walker said the innovative project is the vision of Delores Barr Weaver.

“We’ll target families that have a median income between 30% and 80%... We’re getting references from a lot of the social services agencies inside of Jacksonville. They’ll be given preference here,” Walker said.

Each home is nearly 500 square feet and has one bedroom and bathroom, complete with a full kitchen and living space.

“It’s just another way we can support the community and help Jacksonville address the affordable housing crisis that continues here,” Walker said

Walker said they expect construction to be complete in September and hope tenants can officially move in October.

“The purpose of these units is to get people who normally would not be able to afford any type of housing, get them off the street, get them out of bad environments and put them in a safe place,” Cassaro said.

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