Inside the new tiny home village where even more residents pay zero in rent – but you must meet two requirements to stay

THOSE without shelter can get free housing at a new tiny home community and pay zero rent with requirements.

In the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, city officials worked together to create living spaces for those without a place to stay in the area.

Those who are allowed to obtain one of the 72 miniature residences with 144 beds at the Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village need to either be part of the homeless community in the area as a whole, or be part of the mariachi bands in the area without housing, per local ABC affiliate KABC.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León explained at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the community opening this week that mariachi bands in Boyle Heights have specifically struggled since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to find gigs and sustainable housing.

"Today marks a milestone as we gather to inaugurate Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village, the first of its kind residence on the eastside of Los Angeles," De León said.

He explained that a designated area of the village would be cornered off for homeless mariachi bands.

"At this site, we're going to reserve a corner of this Tiny Home Village for Boyle Heights for mariachis who are currently experiencing homelessness," he continued.

"There was a percentage of mariachis at least 20 to 25 mariachis in Boyle Heights in and around Mariachi Plaza who are actually experiencing homelessness today as we know it."

A few mariachi members even played at the opening ceremony.

The village's program manager, Francisco Reynoso, emphasized that the homes would offer relief for the mariachi bands and general homeless population sanctuary during hardship, and ideally provide them a springboard to move forward.

"These are all people going through hardships, and we're here to help them off," Reynoso told KABC.

"And we're going to do our best and we're going to hit the floor running."

One of the first new residents at the Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village, Ramiro Arana, said he's been playing at the nearby Mariachi Plaza for over four decades.

For over three years, he's been living on the streets, but the community has now provided him the living necessities he desperately needed.

Each tiny home reportedly comes equipped with heating and air conditioning, bathrooms with showers, and provided food.

Rent costs are $0.

Councilmember De León emphasized that the village offers a safe environment with the "dignity and respect" the homeless residents in the area deserve.

"We all know that this is not the final resting stop," De León said.

"We all know that collectively, but it's one huge step forward to provide a modicum of dignity and respect."

HONORING HEROES

As The U.S. Sun previously reported, another tiny home community with a similar concept recently opened up in Binghamton, New York, about 73 miles south of Syracuse.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar helped start the project in an effort to take care of veterans.

Along with a tiny home community dedicated to housing former military members, there will also be a Veteran's Resource Center.

Garner said the plan is to make everything accessible for homeless veterans in one area.

"The whole idea of our Veterans Resource Center is we want a one-stop-shop for all of our local veterans," Garner explained while speaking with local CBS/CW affiliate WBNG.

"We want to be able to put all of our veteran’s service agencies under one roof and then have programming support for veterans and do whatever we can to help our local veterans here in Broome County."

Construction on the entire site should be completed by 2025, according to Gardner.

Even so, The Veteran Resource Center hopes to be finished by Veterans Day on November 11, 2024.

It will be a two-level building of 13,000 square feet.

Additionally, two different types of tiny homes will be available in two sizes once the community is complete.

They sit at measurements of 831 square feet and 965 square feet.

For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun's coverage of an $18,000 tiny home built last summer.

The U.S. Sun also has the story on a $45,000 tiny home built by a couple without any blueprints.