DES MOINES, Iowa — Joe Stevens has been dreaming about building a tiny home village to help the homeless for a long time.

“Well, after 12 years and looking through literally over 500 properties, we finally found the right property where everybody came together and agrees and is very supportive,” he says with a smile.

The property on Des Moines’ southeast side is known as the old Chesterfield school site. Joppa plans to keep the building and repurpose it as a community center. The nonprofit is leasing five and-a-half acres from the city and hopes to acquire another five and a half that belongs to the Water Reclamation Authority. The plan calls for two phases, building 27 homes in each one.

“And that’s really just dependent on how fast the fundraising goes,” Stevens explains, “but there will be 54 homes. Fifty for formerly chronically homeless people, and then four for staff and volunteers to live amongst them.”

Residents will choose from different sizes and floor plans: a 384 square foot home, a 240 square foot duplex or a 192 square foot triplex. Living here won’t be free, rents will range from $300 to $700 a month. The dream is to have gardens, a medical center, and a small grocery store on site to give it a true neighborhood feel.

“And you’ve seen some of the pictures from Community, First,” Stevens says, “so you know how beautiful it is.”

Stevens is talking about the first tiny home village in the country, where roughly 400 people live on 27 acres just outside Austin, Texas. Founder and CEO Alan Graham was in Des Moines a year ago for a Joppa fundraiser.

“People come down and they get enamored with the tiny houses, the 3D printed houses or whatever, but they’re missing the point,” Graham told WHO 13 then, “the point is really all about community and creating the banquet table that allows people to connect human to human and heart to heart as if there is a family and as if there is a forged family in that environment. “

“So many people are enamored with the concept, Graham has created what he calls a “replication pathway,” so other organizations can create their own version of Community, First,” Stevens said. “We don’t, we don’t have all the answers. They don’t have all the answers. But collectively, when we come together, um, it creates something bigger. So we’re here to create something even bigger.“

There’s a tremendous need for it. According to Homeward, the number of people experiencing homelessness is increasing. A count last summer showed 768 homeless people in Des Moines, up from 729 the year before. Of the 729, 210 of those people were unsheltered – an 18% increase from 2024.

WHO 13 met the people Joppa serves last winter. Julie, Steven, Tami and Caleb shared their stories. They are considered chronically homeless. That means they’ve been homeless for a year or longer, like Julie and Steven, or have substance abuse disorders or disabilities like Caleb and Tami. It’s why the supportive services Joppa plans to provide at the village are critical.

A vision more than a decade in the making that may finally become a reality – thanks to Stevens’ persistence.

“You know, frankly, it’s a little surreal after 12 years of, you know, working through a number of curveballs and just always, you know, thinking you’re getting close and then having like another curveball or 20. And so, so, yeah, it’s a little surreal, but we’re just so excited, I guess, to be in this position, to be able to finally do it.”

Joppa plans to break ground in 2026 and have the first tenants move in by 2027.