A Vietnam Veteran named Mike recently received a memorable 80th birthday gift: his own tiny home.
Mike’s tiny home is the culmination of over a decade of work by a nonprofit called Operation Tiny Home, which celebrated this milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday.
Gabrielle Rapport, founder and executive director of Operation Tiny Home, kicked off the ceremony. She explained that her vision for the charity started because of Mike.
“[Mike] was a friend of my mom’s, and it was actually my mother who reached out to me. She shared that his living situation had become unsafe,” Gabrielle said.
Mike had been living in a rundown RV for well over a decade. Gabrielle began researching options for Mike and found that there weren’t many solutions that fit his needs.
“Many veterans prefer living a more rural lifestyle or living with their own space and not in a communal living environment,” Gabrielle explained.
Mike had his own dream for a tiny home of his own, and Operation Tiny Home formed around that dream.
It took time to get the tiny home setup right. The first tiny home the nonprofit built was just over 100 square feet and didn’t have a bathroom. It worked as transitional housing but not for independent living.
A decade after Operation Tiny Home first started, Mike’s new home is just right. The tiny home features simple but elegant touches: built-in bookshelves; a handsome kitchenette with a full-size refrigerator; a laundry room; and best of all: a full bathroom with a shower.
Now Mike no longer has to eat based on what can be heated in a microwave or kept in a mini fridge. He doesn’t have to find creative ways to clean dishes or brace himself for a cold journey to an outdoor bathroom.
Local organizations also donated patio furniture and a barbecue so Mike can host friends and enjoy the outdoors.
After cutting the ribbon to his new home and receiving the keys, Mike expressed his heartfelt gratitude.
“I never dreamed that this would be happening at all,” Mike said. “ . . . All I feel in my heart is humble and thankful and grateful.”
Extra Touches from the Tiny House Nation Hosts
Mike’s home features some extra unique touches, like an artistically designed fold-out bed, thanks to the former hosts of Tiny House Nation, John Weisbarth and Zach Giffin.
The pair hosted Tiny House Nation for 5 seasons. Now they’re filming a new show that focuses on tiny home projects for people like Mike.
Zach was a firm believer in tiny homes even before the show began.
“Getting a smaller tiny home was this incredible, powerful tool that I was able to use to enable me to focus in on the parts of life that I wanted to focus on,” Zach said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Throughout the original broadcast of Tiny House Nation, Zach heard from people all over the country, including veterans who saw tiny homes as the perfect solution for homeless veterans. A tiny home is “a simple home, but it’s dignified, and it’s very appropriate for the needs of one person,” Zach explained.
Zach finally decided to do something but ran into a problem: the trademark for Operation Tiny Home had already been filed by Gabrielle Rapport. He reached out to Gabrielle and explained his own vision.
“[Zach] wanted to be able to teach veterans carpentry and construction skills,” Gabrielle recalled. “And as a result of teaching them those skills, they would be able to actually be the solution for their own housing needs. And then, not only that, they would have trade skills that would give them access to income and give them access to jobs.”
Gabrielle had passion and a strong voice, but she needed to create more momentum for her nonprofit. Zach had practical skills to share and star power. It was the ideal partnership. Together, Gabrielle and Zach began a program called Building a Better Future for Veterans through Operation Tiny Home.
Since then, Zach has taught hundreds of veterans carpentry and construction skills.
“[Operation Tiny Home] has been one of the true prides of my life and just the most impactful [thing] I’ve ever been a part of,” Zach said. “It’s because of times like this: you put in the work, and then there’s this beautiful payoff where you get to stand back and look at something that’s physical that is so obviously going to change someone’s life.”
Zach and John’s new show will premiere on YouTube in July.
Many Hands Make Light Work
Operation Tiny Home relies on community partners to donate materials and labor to tiny home builds like Mike’s.
A Buckley-based nonprofit called Building Beyond the Walls designed and built Mike’s outdoor deck. Many organizations, including the Rotary Club of Sumner, Builders FirstSource, and the Home Depot Foundation donated materials and labor. Local landowner and tiny home builder Todd McKellips donated the site for Mike’s home and contributed to the building process as well. Sound Foundations Northwest capped it all off by donating an outdoor grill.
Washington Rock Quarries contributed the 1¼” Minus gravel for the foundation of the home as part of their Giving Back Program.
Offering Hope through Operation Tiny Home
Mike’s home is part of Operation Tiny Home’s pay-it-forward initiative. Mike has the rights to live in the tiny home as long as he wants to. Then the home will be passed on to another person in need.
Meanwhile Operation Tiny Home is preparing the next high-quality tiny homes for people in need. Leading up to this point, Operation Tiny Home has worked in 52 different cities to provide support and resources. The nonprofit relies on not only financial contributions but also on material donations and volunteer work.
To learn more about Operation Tiny Home and its programs, visit the website.
Washington Rock Quarries is a family-owned business that produces rock, sand, and soil products at Kapowsin Quarry and King Creek Pit in Orting, Washington. Read more about our community involvement on Our Community webpage.