By Katherine Long | Editor
With words of gratitude and a wide smile July 22, Dolphus Johnson cut the ribbon strung across the front porch of 112 Rose Avenue in Syracuse — the address he now calls home.
The two-unit dwelling on Rose Avenue is the first to be completed by Syracuse-based organization A Tiny Home for Good, Inc., whose mission is to build, manage, and rent tiny homes to individuals who have faced homelessness. Rent is determined on the resident’s income; the Rose Avenue units will be rented to veterans.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony drew volunteers, supporters, neighbors, and community and civic leaders, after which Johnson offered tours of his home. The bright, furnished unit measures fewer than 300 square feet, with a main area for living and sleeping, a kitchen, and a bathroom. A tabletop folds down from the wall when needed, and a dresser fits perfectly in a small alcove. A shed behind the home offers additional storage space.
“It motivates me to keep on moving,” Executive Director Andrew Lunetta said of his feelings surrounding the home’s completion. “I feel deeply that it’s the way to end homelessness and I hope to prove that — and the only way I can do that is to keep on moving.”
A Tiny Home for Good is currently at work on three additional units on Syracuse’s South side. To find out more about that project, A Tiny Home for Good, and how to donate skills, materials, or funds, visit atinyhomeforgood.org. See more photos of the Rose Avenue home and celebration below.
All photos for the Sun by Chuck Wainwright
Dolphus Johnson offers a tour of his new home July 22. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
Dolphus Johnson cuts the ribbon on his new home at 112 Rose Avenue in Syracuse July 22. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
A Tiny Home for Good, Inc. Executive Director Andrew Lunetta speaks to those assembled for the ribbon-cutting ceremony July 22. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
A Tiny Home for Good, Inc.’s first completed home at 112 Rose Avenue in Syracuse. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
A Tiny Home for Good, Inc. Executive Director Andrew Lunetta and first resident Dolphus Johnson take a moment outside his new home July 22. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
