Pee Wee Homes

Pee Wee Homes mission is to create dignified, affordable, tiny homes in caring community for and with people transitioning out of homelessness. They leverage public and private resources to build dignified and permanent small homes for those with extremely low incomes, typically those at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI) and have a history of homelessness and housing instability. They have partnerships with local faith communities, other nonprofits, municipalities, land banks, financial institutions, the university and individual community members that help not only to finance the homes themselves, but also provide meaningful community supports to our residents.

We develop and manage rental homes for individuals at or below 30% of the area median income who are currently homeless or have experienced chronic homelessness. The homes include permanent foundations and infrastructure investments of water and sewer ranging from 260-400 square feet. We have 1-bedroom and studio detached units and duplex units which maximize the buildable area of small lots while keeping with the character of the surrounding neighborhood. The homes incorporate significant sustainable energy up-fitting and creative interior design to make a highly livable, comfortable home space. A few of our units are ADA accessible, and we seek to incorporate as many universal design features as possible into all of our units to ensure our homes are healthy and livable for the long term.

Now in his 70s, Pee Wee has lived in Chapel Hill his whole life and was a skilled brick mason for decades – building dozens of the brick buildings we see to this day in our community. After suffering a stroke, he lost his ability to walk and speak temporarily, and his acute motor control – leaving him unable to practice his trade. Through rehabilitation regained the strength to walk and the ability to speak, but the loss of acute control was permanent and he retired due to this disability. After losing steady income, he could not afford a home in Orange County and was homeless on and off for over a decade – sleeping in the woods for much of this period, and staying at the shelter for the final two years. He built this community, literally, and yet there has been nowhere for him to live here in his retirement. Thankfully, Pee Wee is now housed in a studio apartment – one of the very few homes in our community affordable with his extremely limited fixed income. The struggle of his search for housing inspired the launch of this effort – hence he became our namesake!

Pee Wee Homes hopes to complete 3 new homes in Carrboro as well as find site and raise funds for the next 7 homes. You can help by donating money, material goods, or volunteering your time. Questions? Contact peeweehomes@gmail.com or visit https://peeweehomes.org/.