HAMPTON, Va. — Work to create a tiny home community for the homeless in Hampton and Newport News continues. News 3 first told you about the tiny home idea in April. At the September 23 Hampton City Council meeting, Hampton city manager Mary Bunting provided an update.
“We’re currently in the process of trying to finalize some of the details," Bunting said.
Watch: September 23 Hampton City Council meeting
Those details include pros and cons of different options. That was part of her update to City Council. She also showed a video put together by Newport News about the trip leaders from both cities took in February to Salt Lake City, Utah to learn about how tiny homes are being used to help the homeless there.
In the video, Hampton's city manager says they want to “replicate services” in a way that makes sense here.
Watch: City of Hampton considering tiny home community to address homelessness
“We’re not Salt Lake City, of course, we have our unique characteristics. But, we can learn from what they’ve done and we were very inspired by the things that we saw," Bunting said in the video.
Newport News city manager Alan Archer also shared the video at the September 22 Newport News City Council work session and said this is a step toward having a plan in place.
“We are working hard," said Archer. "We’re getting closer to it. It’s not at hand yet."
Watch: September 22 Newport News City Council work session
Councilwoman Tina Vick suggested housing the homeless in the city’s Four Oaks Day Center. Archer said the language in the agreement the city has to operate the center prevents that.
Newport News City Council has since approved paying the federal government more than a million dollars to remove conditions on the deed for the property, but a city spokesperson told News 3 this is not related to the regional effort to address homelessness.
In April, News 3 talked with Hampton resident Brenda Marks who was concerned about the possibility of Hampton taxpayer dollars being used to build something in Newport News.
Watch: Hampton residents share ideas for location of possible tiny home community
"Whatever is built for the homeless should be built within the boundaries of the city of Hampton," Marks said.
As of Wednesday, the city of Hampton had set aside about $4.5 million that could be used for a tiny home community. Bunting said she and Archer hoped to present a report later in the year on how to implement what the cities have been learning about ways to help the homeless.
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