BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Brunswick nonprofit, Hand in Hand, hoped to have a solution for people without a home by the winter.
The organization built 'The Grove at Correll Commons,' a community of 60 tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness. 45 units are ready, but they sit vacant as temperatures dropped below freezing for the second straight night. The rest of the units are expected to be finished within the next week.
“We’re presently waiting on HUD [Department of Housing and Urban Development]," President of The Grove at Correll Commons John Williams told First Coast News. "We’ve been given some information, but not the full picture. We’re waiting on them, whatever the process is that they go through."
"Part of our goal is to make them feel good about themselves, we’re not just throwing them in anything," said Williams, who oversees the community of tiny homes. "We would put them in something that we would live in if we had to."
He says it sent its request for proposal to the state department of Urban Planning and Development two months ago.
"And so, for us, that’s more than enough time," Williams said. "Granted, we understand it's the holiday season. But in light of that, life still goes on and there’s still people that you know lives were affected by the decisions that we make or don’t make. So, the frustrating part for us is watching the same people that we see every day, walking the streets, living in bushes, and behind buildings and what not, trying to survive when we've got a nice warm home that they can live in permanently."
First Coast News reached out to the state Housing and Urban Development department about the funds requested and is waiting to hear back.