SquareOne Receives Innovator of the Year Award

We are pleased to announce that SquareOne Villages received the Register Guard's 2018 Innovator of the Year award!

From the Register Gaurd:

Since 2012, SquareOne Villages in Eugene has been applying community talent and innovation to provide a solution to the growing problems of homelessness and lack of affordable housing. The idea?Develop a model of self-managed tiny home villages. Opportunity Village Eugene, a collection of transitional shelters, opened in 2013 for people transitioning from homelessness. More recently, a village of 22 permanent homes, called Emerald Village Eugene, is in the works in the Whiteaker area, with 17 homes finished and occupied. Local architects, construction companies and countless volunteers have collaborated to meet the challenge to build tiny homes and communal spaces residents can afford and be proud of. SquareOne Villages is actively sharing its innovative model with organizations and other communities throughout Oregon, including Cottage Grove, where a new village is in planning stages. “It is our hope that you’ll see villages like this sprouting up across the state and the nation,” says executive director Dan Bryant. “It truly enables someone who lives on minimal incomes to have a decent place to live.”

“The first step to breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty is to have a secure and stable place to live. SquareOne Villages is making a real difference in Eugene, Lane County and beyond with an innovative and visionary new model for affordable housing. SquareOne Villages is creating community and giving those most in-need a path to a better life.”

Kyle Henley, University of Oregon