The May 2020 meeting of the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute was noteworthy for two very different reasons. Firstly, it featured a presentation about the recently completed Jeffrey Commons tiny home village developed by Sponsors, the local nonprofit agency dedicated to reimagining social justice and transformative reentry services for people with conviction histories. Secondly, the meeting was a virtual one—we used GoTo Meeting as our video teleconferencing platform—a necessary move during this time of social distancing. Despite the limitations of the medium, we enjoyed an outstanding presentation by Sponsors executive director Paul Solomon and architect Nir Pearlson, AIA, LEED AP of Aligned Architecture.
Paul described Sponsor’s history and philosophy. A group of Catholic nuns and community activists founded the agency in 1973. Since then Sponsors has provided transitional housing and other necessary services to individuals released from correctional institutions in Oregon who are paroling to Lane County. Sponsors’ philosophy is based on the belief people can and do change, and that a strategic intervention at the appropriate moment can serve as a catalyst in that change. Every year, Sponsors helps over 500 people re-enter our community to become productive, law-abiding, hardworking, and tax-paying citizens. Sponsors is ever-evolving, constantly moving, and forwardly imagining.
Paul provided some background to underscore how important the work Sponsors does and the support its services provide are. Shockingly, while the amount of crime has remained statistically steady for the past fifty years, the rate of incarceration in this country has increased seven-fold over that same period. Today, over 2 million adults are in prison or jail in the U.S. An additional 7 million are currently under criminal justice supervision; in Oregon, the numbers are 83,000 people either behind bars or within the parole and probation system. As well, there is the entrenched injustice of racial disparity. Unless there is change, one in three African-American male babies born in this century can expect to go to prison in their lifetimes; there are more back people under correctional supervision today than there were slaves during pre-Civil War times! The figures for Latino individuals tell a similarly tragic tale of racial bias within our society and judicial system.
This year alone, approximately 5,000 individuals will be released from prison in Oregon. According to Paul, about half of these men and women will have nowhere to live. Lacking perceived alternatives, many will return to the same environments and behaviors that led to their imprisonment. All this highlights the tremendous need for transitional housing and societal reentry programs of the sort Sponsors provides. Today’s worsening housing affordability crisis on the local, regional, and national levels only magnifies this need and its urgency. Additionally, while the unhoused population continues to expand, the cost of building residential units escalates, exacerbating the problem.
In response to the growing challenge of providing its clients with affordable living arrangements, Sponsors started providing housing in 1988, beginning with just five beds. Today the agency manages twenty buildings on seven sites. Together, these provide over 220 beds of transitional, long-term, and permanent housing for people with criminal histories. In addition to the new Jeffrey Commons, the projects include Roosevelt Crossing, which provides 45 units of transitional housing and on-site parole & probation services, and The Oaks at 14th, which includes 54 one-bedroom apartments as permanent housing solutions. All contradict stereotypes associated with institutional housing developments. Sponsors has emphasized the importance of aesthetics, amenities (such as workout rooms, meeting spaces, basketball courts, etc.), unique design features, and durable, quality construction. Funding for the projects come from a variety of sources, including private foundation grants, low-income housing tax credits, SDC waivers, and Lane County Housing Improvement Program grants through partnerships with Homes for Good.
The Sponsors application process takes into consideration length of incarceration, risk to re-offend, and other relevant factors. People who have served eight years or more and/or are at high-risk to re-offend (as evidenced by a validated risk-assessment tool) are given highest priority. Additionally, the priority population includes seniors (Oregon has the highest percentage of older parolees in the nation), women with children, veterans, and people with disabilities and mental illness.
Between 65-75% of Sponsors’ clients achieve what the organization considers to be measurable success. The metrics include:
- Passing all drug and alcohol screens
- Finding and maintaining employment or schooling
- Obtaining permanent housing
- Maintaining compliance with the conditions of their parole
The results speak for themselves: The statistical baseline for recidivism is 33%, whereas the rate of recidivism for Sponsors’ clients is only 13%, a 60% reduction relative to the baseline. Sponsors’ transitional housing developments have contributed greatly to this measure of success.
It is within this context that Sponsors undertook its latest development, the Jeffrey Commons project. From the outset, Sponsors envisioned it as a collection of tiny homes. The project driver was a desire to explore an alternative housing model and its suitability for helping fulfill the agency’s mission.
Nir and his team at Aligned Architecture designed Jeffrey Commons. The cluster of tiny homes utilizes a piece of property owned by Sponsors on a lot adjacent to Roosevelt Crossing. Unlike another recent tiny home development—the Emerald Village Eugene project by SquareOne Villages—Jeffrey Commons is comprised of duplex homes rather than individual dwellings. The ten units and a shared commons building are arrayed around an interior courtyard featuring sheltered gathering spaces, arbors, and food gardens. Pathways connect and link the homes into a village, and a rich tapestry of landscaping weaves it all together.
In Nir’s words, the design provides the essentials of a place that is wonderful to live in at an affordable price. The tiny homes are intended to fulfill big dreams. Their covered porches are welcoming. Pop-out bays add interior space and exterior variety. The simple roof forms vault above the interior spaces. Daylight streams into each unit through plentiful windows. Each individual home features a complete set of living amenities, which will allow residents to gain confidence, independence, and dignity within safe, private spaces.
Structurally, the design of the duplex units is “super simple,” featuring a reduced number of structural components, minimized geometric complexity, and simplified construction process. The wall panels were shop-fabricated, and then assembled rapidly in the field to reduce waste, cost, and site impact. The roofs are made of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), which provide excellent thermal performance and likewise expedited on-site construction. Efficient mini-split heat pumps provide HVAC in the units. An energy recovery ventilator is a feature in the Commons building, significantly conserving electricity while keeping the building comfortable year-round.
Jeffrey Commons did have its share of challenges. Due to a very busy construction market, Essex Construction—who served as the general contractor—experienced difficulties locating subcontractors interested in bidding the niche project. On the heels of its completion earlier this year came the COVID-19-associated lockdown; as a consequence, tenants have not yet been allowed to move in. Sponsors has offered use of the units to the Lane County Public Health Department for potential use as quarantine housing for homeless persons. On the flip side, the project is debt-free. The fully furnished units will be ready to receive its tenants once the pandemic subsides.
The Jeffrey Commons project proved fulfilling and meaningful for Aligned Architecture. Nir’s firm has established an enviable reputation for designing not-so-big, small, and tiny homes, and specializing in the creation of small spaces that feel expansive. Aligned Architecture’s work reflects a growing local, regional, national, and global trend toward small-footprint, stand-alone homes that preserve land, minimize resource use, and reduce energy consumption. Eugene has become a hotbed for the development of innovative affordable housing, of which Jeffrey Commons is only the latest example. Aligned Architecture’s expertise with imaginative, affordable, small housing has attracted interest from outside our area, leading to the firm’s present work for Woodland Opportunity Village in central California.
Fundamentally, Jeffrey Commons is a groundbreaking quest to balance individuality with community, and modesty with abundance. In this place, people will live and interact within a democratic set of cooperative values, healing from the isolation and alienation of imprisonment. Big thanks to Paul and Nir for providing an excellent introduction to an important and welcome project.
The Jeffrey Commons Team:
- Owner: Sponsors, Inc.
- Architect: Aligned Architecture
- Land Use Planner: TBG Architects + Planners
- Civil Engineer: KPFF
- Landscape Architect: Dougherty Landscape Architecture
- Structural Engineer: Pioneer Engineering
- Electrical Engineer: Paradigm Engineering
- General Contractor: Essex
- Main construction subcontractor: Markus-Thompson
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