O’Mahony took what he learned about building community and
gardening to assist Veterans Place on Washington Boulevard in its
efforts to reconnect homeless veterans with the community. B.O.B.
provided support for corporate giving initiatives to refresh the
townhomes and beautify the grounds of Veterans Place. B.O.B. also
provided meals, gifts and fellowship to homeless veterans during the
sometimes emotionally difficult holidays. Local businesses became
aware of the project and started supporting it. Community groups
clamored to get involved. But, most importantly to O’Mahony, veterans
were getting the recognition and dignity they deserve.
A veteran once told O’Mahony that part of the difference B.O.B. was
making was in how they treated veterans like real people. They talked to
veterans like regular people.
Given the recent success of the B.O.B. Project, O’Mahony wanted to
increase his involvement with the veteran population on a larger scale
and talked with officials from Veterans Place about the best means to
do so.
“There wasn’t a program for long-term housing. They have a Day
Program and a two-year transitional housing program, but nothing
long term, so I suggested tiny homes,” O’Mahony says. “We’d build
a community. Veterans can still be connected and maintain the
camaraderie that exists between them. When you place a veteran in a
general population community they’re not yet connected to, it’s harder
for vets who have lost their military connectedness to integrate back
into society that way.”
O’Mahony observed tiny houses when he saw a community of them
in Austin, Texas, while visiting his brother. The tiny house concept
has grown in popularity in recent years as minimalists seek affordable
solutions for cash-strapped millennials. Several TV shows document
people’s experiences in buying or living in tiny homes as niche builders
have popped up all over the country. O’Mahony wasn’t drawn to them
only for their minimalist design, he was drawn by their modular nature
and scalable versatility.
Marlon Ferguson, Executive Director of Veterans Place, contacted
the Tepper Graduate Business School at CMU and found students
looking for a project. The collaboration resulted in the bones of a
business plan. Veterans Place and B.O.B. Project, Inc. started shopping
around for potential donors and sponsors. “That’s when people started
calling,” O’Mahony says.
He saw that 84 Lumber was making tiny homes and suggested that
Veterans Place reach out to the supplier. It had previously donated
lumber for a deck at Veterans Place and the staff was very excited about
the project. 84 Lumber introduced O’Mahony to the AE7 architectural
firm and they put together a rendering.
“We started to get some news coverage. People started contacting
us,” O’Mahony says. “A lot of people want to purchase homes in tiny
home communities.”
In October, the B.O.B. Project got its 501(c)(3) nonprofit
designation. The organization and its supporters walked in the Penn
Hills Memorial Day parade with banners illustrating their dream.
The tiny homes design won an award from the Pennsylvania Chapter
of The American Institute of Architects for Impact Technology.
Politicians began receiving literature from supporters, and interest from
representatives of both parties swelled. O’Mahony acknowledges that
things are snowballing quickly and that the speed has been challenging.
“We’re really excited by how fast it’s moved, but it’s a little
overwhelming at the same time,” he says. “It’s an exciting thing for a
resident of Penn Hills that this is happening here, and as people see
some of the renderings, they get very excited.”
A standard tiny home is 10x20 feet but, because they are modular,
they can easily double in size or be stacked vertically. A veteran who
needs a home office can add an office module. Another who may need
more living space can add another bedroom, and so on. The estimated
cost per home is between $35,000 and $100,000, depending
Continued on next page >
Penn Hills | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 11