California will spend $30 million to build 1,200 tiny homes to combat the state's homelessness crisis — here's what they could look like

(The Chandler Street Tiny Home Village in Los Angeles. Brittany Chang/Insider)

On March 16, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state will spend $30 million building 1,200 tiny homes this year as part of California's effort to decrease its unhoused population by 15% by 2025.

(The Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

"The crisis of homelessness will never be solved without first solving the crisis of housing – the two issues are inextricably linked," Newsom said. "We are tackling this issue at the root of the problem by addressing the need to create more housing, faster in California."

(The Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

These 1,200 tiny homes will be distributed across four communities — Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Diego County — and beds will be prioritized for people who currently reside in encampments.

(Brittany Chang/Insider)

Los Angeles will receive the most at 500 units while San Diego will be dealt the least with 150 tiny homes.

(Omerali Senakayli / EyeEm / Getty Images)

At this time, it's unclear who will be building these tiny shelters or where exactly they'll go …

(Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission)

… although it has been reported that the units could be as small as 120 square-feet, Adam Beam reported for the Associated Press.

(The Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

But in the meantime, we could turn to Los Angeles as an example of what this collection of tiny homes might look like.

(The Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

The city is no stranger to spending millions of dollars on these unique shelters.

(The Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes Village in Highland Park, California. Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission)

The 200 beds at one of its latest villages, Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village, each cost about $43,000, bringing the cost of the village to $8.6 million.

(The Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

This site is being operated by Hope of the Valley, a faith-based nonprofit that has been deploying prefab tiny homes made by Washington-based Pallet to create these "tiny home villages" throughout Los Angeles.

(The Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes Village in Highland Park, California. Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission)

It all started in February 2021 with its first Chandler Street Tiny Home Village, a colorful collection of tiny homes tucked in a previously "forgotten" corner of North Hollywood.

(Tiny homes at the Chandler Street Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

This "test case" for the city as Rowan Vansleve, CFO of the nonprofit, called it, then became a success.

(Tiny homes at the Chandler Street Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

And shortly after it opened, the village began accumulating a waitlist for its beds.

(Inside a tiny home at the Chandler Street Tiny Home Village. Brittany Chang/Insider)

Now two years out, Hope of the Valley has opened six tiny home villages in the county, providing 908 beds to unhoused Angelenos.

(The inside of a tiny home at the Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes Village in Highland Park, California. Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission.)

When you think of homeless shelters, you probably think of congregate shelters, not these unconventional colorful villages.

(Pallet)

However, there are drawbacks to these traditional shelters, such as the cost and time it takes to construct them.

(The Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes Village in Highland Park, California. Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission)

Ref: California will spend $30 million to build 1,200 tiny homes to combat the state's homelessness crisis — here's what they could look like (businessinsider)