EL CAJON (KGTV) — A small village of pastel-colored tiny homes in El Cajon is making a big impact on the lives of women experiencing homelessness. What began as a pilot program at Meridian Baptist Church in 2022 has now become a permanent solution, helping women transition into stable housing.
Brianna Allard, a former resident of the church’s tiny home village, knows firsthand how life-changing the program can be. She and her two daughters were living in their car before finding refuge in one of the six tiny homes.
“We were living in our car…a very small car. It wasn’t fun at all,” Allard said. “This place meant a lot to myself and my girls.”
During her time at the village, Allard not only found shelter but also built meaningful relationships and accessed the resources needed to regain stability. Like many other women who have lived in the homes, she has since found a job and moved out of the village.
Pastor Rolland Slade, the lead pastor at Meridian Baptist Church, says the program started as an experiment, but its success convinced the city of El Cajon to remove its ‘pilot project’ designation.
“What is unique about the village is that it’s a community within a community,” Slade said. “We can now operate the village as long as we want to.”
Slade says each of the tiny homes costs approximately $8,500 to build, funded mostly through grants and donations. As ABC 10News has reported,while the county has spent over $58 million in the past five years on hotel programs for the homeless — with only 39% of participants transitioning into permanent housing — this village has seen a much higher success rate.
According to Slade, 78% of the women who have lived in the tiny home village have successfully moved into permanent housing. He believes this model could be replicated across San Diego County to make a significant impact on homelessness.
“If each faith community takes on six or ten people, we could really make a dent in homelessness in San Diego,” Slade said.
Currently, the tiny home village is at full capacity, but the church hopes to expand from six homes to ten later this year to help even more women in need.
