For his senior project, Oregon Episcopal School student Ted Morissette is leading fellow students in the building of a “tiny house,” to be donated for the homeless of Dignity Village in Portland.
Story Type: Feature Article
Vehicle: Syndicated newspaper
Strategy: Put the word out there and watch the story catch fire.
By Phil Favorite
Ted Morissette will pursue his passion for film production when he begins college next fall. But before he graduates from Oregon Episcopal School in June, he’s satisfying his curiosity about home building by leading a group of fellow volunteer students in construction of a ‘tiny house’ that will be donated to Dignity Village in Portland.
Morissette, 19, along with Kristen Dallum, a staff advisor from OES, has been leading the group for the last several months in organizing volunteers, scheduling work parties and generating donations of building materials, food and other items to help the project come together. The group has been working since mid-February — sawing lumber, beams, flooring, trim and siding, and piecing and pounding those items into place.
Now nearing completion, the tiny home will be moved from its building site on a dock at Pacific Lumber in Beaverton to Dignity Village in Northeast Portland on May 13.
“I think this could be the first of many,” said Morissette. “I had heard a lot about the tiny house movement and I’ve done a lot of research since starting the project.
“My dad’s a builder and has taught me a lot about building in general. I know that just from being on the sites as a kid,” he said.
“Ted and I had a conversation about building a tiny house about this time a year ago,” Dallum said. “We were able to give a presentation to the entire school body about our project. We also visited Dignity Village and determined that they’d be willing to accept a donation and that it would be a really good fit. They’re always in need of more and safer structures for their population. And the reception from the school has been incredibly supportive.”
According to thetinylife.com — an internet-based resource for information about tiny houses — the “Tiny House Movement” is a social phenomenon in which people are downsizing their living space. The typical American home is about 2,600 square feet while the typical small or tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet. They come in different shapes and forms, but all tiny houses are based on smaller spaces and simplified living.
In recent years, tiny houses have been seen as a way to combat homelessness, with many popping up around the country in neighborhoods designed for low- and no-income housing similar to Dignity Village
Dignity Village is a city-authorized encampment of some 60 residents in Portland, which began as a tent city for some of that city’s homeless. Operating on dedicated land near Portland International Airport since 2000, Dignity Village has grown to offer small brick-and-mortar homes as well as support to help residents transition to permanent housing and employment.
The home being built by Morissette, Dallum and their fellow volunteers features 85 square feet of living space on an open main level with a full loft above.
“Perhaps the resident will use the loft as their sleeping area, or maybe they’ll use it as storage and do a bed on the lower level,” Dallum said. “At Dignity Village, they have a communal kitchen and living spaces. There’s no plumbing in the home because at Dignity Village they have shared bathrooms within the neighborhood.”
The tiny house will replace a condemned structure that currently sits empty at Dignity Village.
“We’re all built out here, so the only thing we can do is replace houses,” said Rick Proudfoot, community spokesman for Dignity Village. “We’ve built these before ourselves and it’s great to have the outside community involved. It brings awareness to what we’re doing and the challenges we’re facing.”
OES, an independent school in Southwest Portland for grades Pre-K through 12 that requires upper school students to complete about 160 service hours over their four years.
“It’s about helping kids find their power for good,” said Martin Jones, director of communication at OES. “Most kids exceed their service commitment and continue to work in the community through graduation. When these kids hit high school age, they’re really in control of these projects.”
Now in his final semester at OES, Morissette completed his service-learning requirement before beginning the tiny house project. He’ll continue his education in the fall at Chapman University in Southern California where he’ll study film production.
“As a college student next year, I definitely plan to continue serving the homeless community and hope to build another tiny house,” Morissette said. “I needed a lot of guidance with this first house, but a second time around, I hope I can lead the entire project on my own.”
before he graduates from Oregon Episcopal School in June, he’s satisfying his curiosity about home building by leading a group of fellow volunteer students in construction of a ‘tiny house’ that will be donated to Dignity Village in Portland.
Morissette, 19, along with Kristen Dallum, a staff advisor from OES, has been leading the group for the last several months in organizing volunteers, scheduling work parties and generating donations of building materials, food and other items to help the project come together. The group has been working since mid-February — sawing lumber, beams, flooring, trim and siding, and piecing and pounding those items into place.
Now nearing completion, the tiny home will be moved from its building site on a dock at Pacific Lumber in Beaverton to Dignity Village in Northeast Portland on May 13.
“I think this could be the first of many,” said Morissette. “I had heard a lot about the tiny house movement and I’ve done a lot of research since starting the project.
“My dad’s a builder and has taught me a lot about building in general. I know that just from being on the sites as a kid,” he said.
“Ted and I had a conversation about building a tiny house about this time a year ago,” Dallum said. “We were able to give a presentation to the entire school body about our project. We also visited Dignity Village and determined that they’d be willing to accept a donation and that it would be a really good fit. They’re always in need of more and safer structures for their population. And the reception from the school has been incredibly supportive.”
According to thetinylife.com — an internet-based resource for information about tiny houses — the “Tiny House Movement” is a social phenomenon in which people are downsizing their living space. The typical American home is about 2,600 square feet while the typical small or tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet. They come in different shapes and forms, but all tiny houses are based on smaller spaces and simplified living.
In recent years, tiny houses have been seen as a way to combat homelessness, with many popping up around the country in neighborhoods designed for low- and no-income housing similar to Dignity Village
Dignity Village is a city-authorized encampment of some 60 residents in Portland, which began as a tent city for some of that city’s homeless. Operating on dedicated land near Portland International Airport since 2000, Dignity Village has grown to offer small brick-and-mortar homes as well as support to help residents transition to permanent housing and employment.
The home being built by Morissette, Dallum and their fellow volunteers features 85 square feet of living space on an open main level with a full loft above.
“Perhaps the resident will use the loft as their sleeping area, or maybe they’ll use it as storage and do a bed on the lower level,” Dallum said. “At Dignity Village, they have a communal kitchen and living spaces. There’s no plumbing in the home because at Dignity Village they have shared bathrooms within the neighborhood.”
The tiny house will replace a condemned structure that currently sits empty at Dignity Village.
“We’re all built out here, so the only thing we can do is replace houses,” said Rick Proudfoot, community spokesman for Dignity Village. “We’ve built these before ourselves and it’s great to have the outside community involved. It brings awareness to what we’re doing and the challenges we’re facing.”
OES, an independent school in Southwest Portland for grades Pre-K through 12 that requires
upper school students to complete about 160 service hours over their four years.
“It’s about helping kids find their power for good,” said Martin Jones, director of communication at OES. “Most kids exceed their service commitment and continue to work in the community through graduation. When these kids hit high school age, they’re really in control of these projects.”
Now in his final semester at OES, Morissette completed his service-learning requirement before beginning the tiny house project. He’ll continue his education in the fall at Chapman University in Southern California where he’ll study film production.
“As a college student next year, I definitely plan to continue serving the homeless community and hope to build another tiny house,” Morissette said. “I needed a lot of guidance with this first house, but a second time around, I hope I can lead the entire project on my own.”
Impact: This article was included in materials for local press outreach. It was picked up by the Portland Tribune, and the story went viral in other local newspapers, TV news outlets and spread across the country. A media value report calculated Total Nielsen Audience at more than a half-million viewers with a total calculated publicity value of $72,276.
Post-script: “When we want to get the word out about one of our projects, we always call on Phil. You just can’t beat a story about good kids doing good things.” — Misty Lane, marketing coordinator for Stone Bridge Homes NW.
