BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A new tiny home village in Bellingham just opened this week.
The Haven Tiny Home Village is on Northwest Avenue and replaces two existing sites — Swift Haven and Unity Village.
It features 48 tiny homes, 23 of which were relocated from Unity Village. The village has shared amenities such as showers, laundry facilities, bathrooms, and two kitchens, one of which is ADA accessible.
The city purchased the land in 2024 for a future affordable housing development and to use this site in the interim for North Haven.
The city also contributed an additional $1.3 million from the Affordable Housing Sales Tax toward building the new village.
Local nonprofit HomesNOW!, the organization that operated Swift Haven and Unity Village, will also operate North Haven.
HomesNOW! uses a self-governing approach. That means residents manage day-to-day operations of the village.
According to a release from the city, this approach has proven successful in the past — about 58% of residents from Unity Village successfully transitioned into permanent housing.
“Homelessness is a complex issue, and we need many different solutions. North Haven is now one of those solutions. It provides a stable place for people while they get out of survival mode and work toward rebuilding,” said Mayor Kim Lund. “It was made possible by the hard work and compassionate dedication of many members of our community, including City of Bellingham employees, the HomesNOW! team, donors, and volunteers.”
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