Sherry Rubel has a vision to help empower homeless citizens in a tight-knit community of tiny homes.
After photographing people living in Lakewood’s since-abandoned Tent City — a community of individuals who lived in tents and shacks in a wooded area of the Ocean County municipality — Rubel has focused her efforts on trying to recreate the sense of community she found there.
“I am driven by a determination to see a healthy, productive, empowering, rehabilitative, creative, sustainable community come to life for the homeless,” said Rubel, who is a resident of South Brunswick.
Rubel founded the nonprofit Revival Village, named for her vision of a village of tiny homes — about 500 square feet or less — that would be based on sustainable farming, the arts, the cultivation of skills and, ultimately, job opportunities.
The concept is part of the ongoing architectural and social movement that promotes a minimalist lifestyle, focusing on sustainable, small homes.
Rubel began reaching out to legislators to explain her ideas and found they were receptive to the proposal.
“I went to [state Senate President Stephen] Sweeney’s office,” Rubel said. “They ate it up. They loved the proposal, and they loved the idea.” The meeting led to the introduction of a bill, which has now been referred to committees in the state Senate and Assembly.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) sponsored the Senate version, S2571, which would appropriate $5 million for the creation of a Tiny Home Pilot Program in three regions in New Jersey.
As written, the bill would require the executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) to select one or two municipalities in south, central and north Jersey to participate in the pilot program.
For each tiny home constructed, pilot municipalities would receive two credits toward their fair-share housing obligations required by state law.
Once municipalities agree to participate, the HMFA would provide $1.65 million grants each year to applicants seeking to construct tiny homes, which would be available for rent as “very low-income housing.”
The dwellings would be rented to lowincome families, defined as a household making 30 percent or less of the median household income.
Applicants would be required to submit an application outlining how many homes would be built, anticipated rental prices, details about the planned construction and relevant experience. While applications could vary, tiny homes are easily affixed with solar panels and rain-catching devices, making them potentially self- sustaining structures that can very easily exist off the power grid, Rubel said.
According to Rubel, if the bill was signed into law, it would only represent one piece of the puzzle in a larger vision for Revival Village.
“My whole thing is not just about subsidized, affordable rental housing by using tiny homes,” she said. “Tent City was a community. We don’t just need affordable housing in tiny homes, we need tiny-home communities.”
Her end goal is the creation of a community that is an empowering experience helping to provide needed skills to its residents.
Two companies — Micro Community Concepts and Eco Building Products — have already collaborated with Rubel on the idea. The only thing missing is funding and the land to build on, Rubel said.
“The whole idea is that you don’t just build the village, but you have to incorporate certain things like the arts, farming and sustainability,” she said. “I want to incorporate on-site job training in on-site work environments.
“How do you get people to go to work and be a productive member of the community? Well, you put them to work in the community. … And it gives back to the community.”
Rubel said the pilot program included in the bill is a good first step because it introduces the concept of tiny homes to New Jersey in a big way. However, just providing low-cost rental opportunities falls short of Rubel’s vision.
“The whole thing is a steppingstone. I don’t expect [the bill] to create Revival Village,” Rubel said. “We need to rebuild our communities from the inside out to support the emotional, spiritual and physical needs that we all have.”