The City of Bellingham and HomesNOW! celebrated the official opening of North Haven Tiny Home Village Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The new village at 3300 Northwest Avenue replaces two existing sites — Swift Haven and Unity Village — which were located on City property in the Puget and Fairhaven neighborhoods. North Haven includes 48 tiny homes, 23 of which were relocated from Unity Village, with the remainder newly built for the site.
The City purchased the land in 2024 for a future affordable housing development and to use this site in the interim for North Haven. The City also contributed an additional $1.3 million from the Affordable Housing Sales Tax toward building the new village.
Located along a bus line and close to city services, the site is surrounded by trees and nature, offering a peaceful environment for residents. North Haven includes shared amenities such as showers, laundry facilities, bathrooms, and two kitchens, one of which is ADA accessible.
Local nonprofit HomesNOW!, the organization that operated Swift Haven and Unity Village, will also operate North Haven. HomesNOW! uses a self-governing approach. Residents manage day-to-day operations and community life, taking an active role in the running of the Village. That approach has proven successful in the past — about 58% of residents from Unity Village successfully transitioned into permanent housing.
“Residents experience so much growth from living in the village,” said Doug Gustafson, co-director of HomesNOW!. “Residents are part of the solution, and this sets them up for moving into permanent housing.”
Interest in staying in one of the tiny houses far surpasses the need for shelter; Gustafson says he regularly receives calls from people daily asking how to get on the wait list. However, North Haven is just one of many approaches the City is taking to address homelessness in Bellingham. “Homelessness is a complex issue, and we need many different solutions. North Haven is now one of those solutions. It provides a stable place for people while they get out of survival mode and work toward rebuilding,” said Mayor Kim Lund. “It was made possible by the hard work and compassionate dedication of many members of our community, including City of Bellingham employees, the HomesNOW! team, donors, and volunteers.”
