This Transitional Shelter Tiny House Village Model Works—Here's Why!

In the past, I've been around people that were homeless. Some of those that I had talked to were homeless by choice, and I was less empathetic until I came into it myself. I'd see a guy on the street corner with a sign, and he's got a dog or two there, and I was like, well, if you're that hungry, eat your dog. I was a jerk, but now I realize that those dogs offer responsibility and companionship, and I think it helps them through their daily life. I'm a lot more empathetic. Hello, my name is Josie Anders-Mize, and I am the executive director here at Oasis Village, located in Redmond, Oregon. Oasis Village is a low-barrier shelter. We are a tiny home-style village, and we serve people who have been experiencing homelessness. We have 25 cabins, three of which can accommodate a couple or a double. Our main community house, which includes services around basic needs, so kitchen, shower, laundry, meeting space, and then our large pet area and dog run, our garden area, and our storage parking lot. The stigma that people who are unhoused kind of fit that chronically homeless person who struggles with mental illness and substance use, yes, they are our neighbors, yes, that does exist, but by far, the majority of people that are unhoused are working and are struggling and are not choosing to be unhoused. They've had circumstances in their lives that have led them to where they're at, so we try to just support them with no judgment because any of us could be, honestly, in their shoes. And they have a story, and when you sit down with them and learn their story, it just makes so much sense of, like, wow, but also builds empathy and relationship with them. Like, they're people too, and they're human, and they get to make mistakes and learn from them and move forward like we all do. My name is Riley. I'm 20 years old, and I've lived here about two months now. I have been homeless on and off since I was 16. Growing up, I didn't have the best relationship with my parents. My mom and I clashed heads a lot and aren't really compatible to live together. So I've been a few other places here in Central Oregon. I've been floating around, like, Portland, crashing with people just all over the place. Finally got back to Central Oregon and ended up landing a referral to this place. Everyone was super welcoming, accommodating, like, friendly. It's just been a journey, and I'm really glad that I landed here for now to prepare me for the next steps in my life. I'm Sharon, and I'm 70 years old, and I've been here for about three and a half months. Well, let's just say abuse and divorce, and my car was vandalized, and I get Social Security. So a couple people showed up from the Oasis and helped me get here. I would love to show you one of our cabins. So our cabins are very simple. They're essentially a bedroom. We offer screen door, solid door that locks. Each one is equipped with an outdoor storage bin, so nice big space for participants' items that don't fit in their cabin. They all have electricity, but do not have bathrooms. So our participants use the main house for access to water, restrooms, and laundry. If people around you have started to seem like they're mumbling more, on the phone, at dinner, watching TV, here's something worth knowing. A 2025 study in JAMA Neurology found there's a whopping 61% lower dementia risk for people who address hearing changes before age 70. Hearing loss is not a sexy topic, but I want to enjoy life to its fullest, so I'm glad to know there are solutions if needed. The Horizon iX is not your mama's hearing aid. It's super sleek and nearly invisible when on. Most importantly, it's the world's first dual-processing hearing aid with two German-engineered, AI-powered processors, one for speech, one for noise. Enjoy unparalleled speech clarity and warm, natural sound. The Horizon iX is rechargeable, Bluetooth-connected, and smartphone-controlled. 670,000 people are already hearing the difference. No more mumbling or missing things. Claim your personalized 45-day no-risk trial at our link. See the description box below. Let's take a look at the inside. So this is our basic setup when our cabins become available. So they include a small desk area, some storage shelves, closet. We stock them with a few supplies, clean towels, trash, flashlights, that sort of thing for our participants when they come in, a broom and a dustpan. And then their bed with storage bins underneath. And in the summertime, we offer air-conditioning units, and our heaters are built-in wall. The construction of our cabins was a collaboration between various student groups, including Redmond High School, Central Oregon Community College, Heart of Oregon Corps. So many of them were built off-site and then transferred here. We opened our doors January 10, 2024. I was hired eight days before that as the executive director. So I started January 2. There was a very significant ice storm that January. So I just remember just the feeling of, wow, these 15 individuals were sleeping outside, literally. Some had been unhoused for decades. And so during that really intense cold storm, that they were warm in their cabins and safe and taken care of. So that's one of my first really substantial memories of the village. Redmond Oasis Village was the first non-congregate low-barrier shelter in Redmond. And what that means is that our participants have privacy with their cabins. So they can lock the door and feel safe. They're not in the same room with other participants. And low barrier, meaning that we remove barriers to people accessing our shelter and our services, such as not requiring sobriety. They can have up to two pets. We don't do background checks and we don't drug test them. And so we kind of meet people where they're at. And so I think that's part of what makes us unique. I also think that with filling that void in the housing continuum, we were able to reach a population who maybe historically wouldn't have been able to access shelter or wouldn't have been interested in that. Given that we offer opportunities such as storage for their RV, that they can have their pets here, that they can actually live here for up to two years if they're actively participating. They don't have to leave during the day, that sort of thing. So those are some of the operational pieces, I guess, of what makes Oasis Village special. But for us, it's about experience. So training and coaching and supporting our staff, our mentors, to kind of foster the environment, to be consistent, to be trauma-informed, to have empathy and a lot of patience as we're kind of meeting people where they're at. And it's really important to me that our team is happy and engaged and wants to be at work because then through them, they provide a high-quality experience to our participants. Welcome to our community garden. This is a space that is reflective of our values of learning and growth. We actually have several participants who have never gardened before and are super interested in learning about soil, learning about growing their own food, or just kind of getting their hands dirty because it's a therapeutic, calming thing to do. So we started with in-ground beds and have really grown it. Last year, we put in the fun, colorful stand-up beds. We added the grass and the sports court. So it's evolving year to year. And we just see this as a space, even if people don't want to garden, that they can just come relax and be with the sunflowers or however they want to enjoy it. Hello, I'm David Lovey. I've been here a little over a year. My experience here has been very, very welcoming. The people here are amazing. I've been able to obtain and keep a long-term job, a job that I love and care about, while being here. I wouldn't have been able to carry or keep my job. I've been able to have a safe environment to come home to. There's several smiles when you come in through the door. You get greeted every time you come in. It's good to get greeted and have smiles and stuff like that every day you wake up, especially being in a situation like this. It really, really helps to have people that are instantly there and that care. I have a wife, and I have three beautiful daughters that are over in the pine. We're from California. We actually were burned out of California in the Paradise Fire a little over seven years ago. We came up here after the burnout. We lost everything. I actually exited a drug treatment program, got off probation, got a full clean slate. I love having my own sanctuary, my own space. That's what really, really highlighted this place for me. I wouldn't have even given any of the other shelters an option because of the living situation. Not knowing who you're living next to gives me an uncomfortable feeling. Not knowing how people are. Just the randomness of anybody not being on their meds. The environment is too hectic for me to live with. I've got everything I need in there to be content and to be humble and to overcome the barriers that I need to have come through to get myself into a place and have my family come through. It's like I have an IMAX in here. It is. I can pull it all the way in front of me if I wanted to go into a movie theater with a toad or something. I've got the surround sound. I've got all my toads and everything under here. It carries all my storage bins and stuff. I've got a little station where I keep my plug-ins and everything right there. Shoes up off the floor. I like to keep my floor clean, as you can see. It's nice and cool in here all the time. We've got a heater right behind you. I love it. I love being able to come here. I've been in situations where you don't know where you're sleeping. You don't know where you're going to stay. You don't know if you're going to have a hot meal. I've been in just all those situations. I've been incarcerated. I've been out of prison for over 15 years now. Completely changed my life. I've given my life to the Lord. So this is what we call our pantry. This is where all of our food storage is, as well as some of our program supplies and cleaning supplies. So each participant has a dry food storage bin. We work with people with food insecurity, so ensuring that they have food is really important to us, and we absolutely will help with that when needed. And then here we have both a walk-in refrigerator and a walk-in freezer where they can have cold storage and frozen storage for their food. So our community house includes access to basic needs. So we have four restrooms. One of them is full ADA compatible. We have our meeting space with our case managers' meetings and our mentors. We also have a large kitchen with two ovens, two stoves, two microwaves, a community fridge, and a community cupboard for food. We have a laundry room that includes three washers, three dryers, so our participants can do their laundry. And we have just a small living area. We have lots of games and puzzles in our cupboard just for activities to do together. We do have a TV. We don't have it on a lot. Recently we've been watching the World Cup, but evening news. But during the day our participants are busy working on housing. My name is Loren Holzhauser. I'm just turned 55, and I've been here almost 11 months. I live here with Hennessy, my Red Heeler. I was on the waiting list for about five months, and then they took me in and gave me a cabin close to the door because I have a bad back, and the staff's just been really great. So far this year I've had two surgeries, and I've went through six and a half weeks of daily radiation treatments for a brain tumor. The staff has been really helpful with that. I was living in a house with my wife, and I was happy. Then we separated, and I came back, and I was homeless. I managed a ranch for a couple of weeks, but that was a disaster. I spent time between Redmond and Mitchell. I was doing some hunting guiding, and so I was able to stay there for five or six months. Then I had to move into my truck. I used to do construction. I can build a house from the ground up and then put a fence around it, and that's literal. I can do everything. Here I can do it. My back, I can't do it. I can probably putter away on little projects here and there at my own pace, but I can't. That's the job where I could probably make enough to be able to afford rent or a house payment. With my back, I can't do the work that makes money. I worked at Sinclair Gas Station for a year and a half and was doing odd jobs to supplement. This last March, I finally was able to get my disability after five years of trying. In addition to shelter, we have two case managers, and so they're working with our participants on what is your long-term housing goal. What is your next step from low-barrier shelter? For some, it's they're ready to rent and have maybe received a voucher or education around that. For others, a move to a higher-barrier shelter or transitional housing program, or sometimes it's inpatient treatment, is the next kind of door that they walk through in their path to housing. So that case management really helps set goals with them, bring in resource and referrals. In addition to that, life skills are huge, so we offer education. Sometimes outside community members will come in, like Deschutes County has come in and done food safety. We have the library come in and sign people up for library cards, just kind of whatever they're needing, but just through our daily schedule, we do a lot of life skills and coaching too. Here's how we kind of plan a grocery list based on our budget and what we get with SNAP for the week. So modeling, lots of modeling, lots of how can we plan ahead next time. It is, like, the loveliest place that I've stayed at. The staff and the people here are so friendly and welcoming. I feel so beyond safe here. I started working, I'm pretty sure, my first month here. I've had the job a little over a month now. They were really trying to help me get into working, get a job, source of income, like they do with everyone here, because it's important. I work at Walmart. I'm a shopping cart pusher. It was a lot at first on my body. It took a lot to get acclimated to, but I really like it now. It's fun, it keeps me active. Short-term, well, I really want to get my driver's license. I'm 20 and I still don't, I don't even have my permit. I know nothing about driving. I really just want to get myself to a point of, like, complete independence. Like, financial, housing, all of it. Which I'm really grateful to be here because they can help transition me into housing as I, like, stay, work on my goals here. And I'm just, I'm really excited for my own independence. I've lived here about two months and anywhere I go, it's really important to me that I have my own space where I can, like, make myself feel at home and as cozy as I want. Obviously, I like to decorate it. I like to make it look as, like, extra and cute as possible. I like displaying my interests as well. Anything I'm into, you'll see it around here. I like Monster High dolls, superhero media, stuff like that. I really like that this place offers little, like, closet spaces. It is so important when living in such a condensed living space to have really, like, just all the space you need. Because we have bins under our beds as well for clothing. We have a few of these. For someone who is, like, a young girl like me, I have way too many clothes. Um, and so it's nice having this extra space for everything. And shelf space as well. Really, really important. I've been to another shelter that offered tiny, little, like, cabin units like this. And it was not only just so much smaller on the inside, but there was nothing like this. There wasn't a desk either. I'm in school right now, getting my GED. The desk has been very helpful for studying, for really just everything. It's nice to have desks and closets. It's nice... It's nice to have space, really, for everything you need or don't need, obviously. The thing about being here, I was able to cook again. Do you realize I hadn't cooked in about four or five years? I have a kitchen to cook in. I don't even have to go nowhere to wash clothes. I go wash clothes. I can actually get in here and clean house like I used to clean my own house. I thought I'd lost my cooking skills. I've been in this place for about, oh, six years. Where I was at before, I had all my clothes and stuff stolen. I've been here, and with the money I'm making now and what I have in the savings account, I'm able to replace what I lost. That's what I'm doing, replacing. And they vandalized my vehicle. So, I'm looking for vehicles now as well. And I went through a lot. But a lot of people say you can't tell it. And that's the way I want to be. I want to be strong. And I've been talking with the case management people. I think I've paid off seven bills. I get a social security check. The man I was married to for almost 16 years, he died last year. I get his survivor's benefits. They're helping me to get the paperwork that I need to get to social security to be able to collect that. I've done more in three and a half months than I've done in three years. I've been in the medical field for almost 50 years now. But being 70, I'm kind of like semi-retired. And I have strength. And that carries me through. And I leave it all in God's hands. We measure success pretty broadly because it is so highly individualized for people. And so, kind of like how I mentioned, if someone makes the choice to enter a treatment program, we see that as success. And that's what they've identified that they need at that time in their life. But generally speaking, since opening in January of 2024, we've served 70 individuals at Oasis Village. Of those 70 served, 47 have exited our services. And of those exits, 32 of the 47 have moved on to a stable housing situation. And so, we're really proud of those outcomes. So our most recent exit, the individual moved actually to the old mill in Bend. We have started a tradition where we get a laundry basket and fill it with cleaning supplies, trash bags, just kind of the basic stuff that adds up. And it's expensive. I'm just kind of like a starter kit for their housing. He was so overwhelmed with gratitude just from basic household stuff. We served a young couple who had a baby on the way, so their goal was to find their housing before the baby came. They also worked hard. They both worked two jobs, participated in a program, met their expectations here. They had two dogs as well. And a camper. And so while they were at the village, they were able to sell their camper, transfer their jobs to Bend, got a lovely, very nice apartment in Bend, continued to work, and have since stopped in to see us and brought the baby, and we just want to check in and how everyone's doing, and many more stories of just like they did it. They just needed that safety and that time to just relax in a sense, and not have to worry about that rent payment and knowing that there was support staff around them that could help them prepare to do it on their own. And they did. I will say too, and we track data on this, the vast majority of our participants are from Central Oregon. They're local and generational to this area and this community, and I just think that's really important because I think sometimes the story is people are coming from all over to move here to access services and that's just not what we see. I'm Amy Farmer. I'm 53 and I've been here about 22 months. My situation is a little unique, so it's been a little difficult for me to find the resources and stuff to me that I needed to get to where I needed to get, so it took me a while. But I did get a job and I'm just about to go back to my property. I was going to lose it. The property taxes were, they were about to repossess it and now I've gotten that all paid off. So yeah, it's been really great being here. They've really helped me a lot just being out of the situation that I was in. Fleeing domestic violence. My ex and I grew up out there. We live right next door to each other and he still lives out there and so I just had to get out of there. He's still in his active addiction like really bad and I've been about seven and a half years clean. My lot's no power, no water, nothing like that, so it's just got a container on it, a shipping container and a couple trailers and crap that I need to get off of there, but I just got a new fifth wheel that I just bought and so I'm going out there with a new fifth wheel and I got a van. The people here have been so amazing, like Josie, she's just brilliant, amazing. And the people, like really the people here have made this experience for me just a blessing. You know, it got me out of a really bad situation, got me back up on my feet and now I get to go back with some resources. Someday if, you know, the Lord blesses me, I would like to start a place like this. You know, build it and provide housing and help people. Central Oregon Housing Continuum is really a model that shows the spectrum of different housing options for individuals. Starting with unsanctioned camping or truly sleeping outside. The city of Redmond has a managed camp model, not every community has that, so I would say that would kind of be next. To low barrier shelter options such as Oasis Village, safe parking programs where individuals may be in a vehicle or a camper but have a designated safe place to park that. Up into transitional housing services such as permanent supportive housing to supplemented rent all the way up to market rate rent and home ownership. What I would like the community to know about the importance of low barrier shelters is that they work. They're impactful. Meeting people where they're at is key I think to helping them find their next door and just reducing stigma over half of most all actually of our participants work. Some of them work two jobs. They are educated. The thing that they all have in common is that they've experienced some sort of trauma or setback in life that has led them to their situation but I think they're really brave because they're choosing a different path and want that connection again and want that opportunity to have their own home someday. If I got a flat tire on my way to work first of all I'm grateful that I have a vehicle but I can think of at least three people that I could immediately call that would help me to get to work on time. When you're in isolation it's like I don't have anyone. I have nowhere to go from here and so if we can be that first door and we will be your person. We'll be your team. Until you rebuild those supports I think that also fills a huge gap in people's lives. Thanks for stopping by Tiny House Expedition. I'm Alexis. And I'm Christian and this is our DIY tiny house on our homestead in Oregon. Looking for more tiny inspiration? Watch these videos. 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