An unpermitted home at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Soquel. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> A new housing project using renewable construction materials could include six tiny homes for formerly homeless residents at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Soquel.  

People First of Santa Cruz County and Just Places are partnering with the church and hope to construct New Creation Village. Just Places is a fiscally sponsored project of People First, a local nonprofit, and describes its mission as combating homelessness and climate change by building housing with natural materials.

Just Places would develop the project, People First would act as a service provider and Mt. Calvary owns the land. Other partners and supporters are involved as well. 

People transitioning out of homelessness have been living on the church’s lot in unpermitted structures built by volunteers in 2022. Evan Morrison, executive director of People First, became aware of Mt. Calvary’s unpermitted structures several years ago and said he’s been searching for more sustainable solutions. Funding for the new project is the main focus right now, he said.

Evan Morrison, founder and executive director of People First, works in his office in Santa Cruz on April 16. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

“If the funding comes together, it’s likely we’ll start building in May of next year,” Morrison said. 

During the first of two phases of construction, six tiny homes would be built. The homes would primarily be made of strawbale and natural plaster, with solar to power the homes, and are expected to last up to 100 years. The second phase of development includes constructing up to 10 apartment units on the church property using the same sustainable building methods and will include in-unit bathrooms and kitchenettes. 

The goal is to make some of the units available to those with Section 8 housing vouchers.

Kita Glass, natural builder, general contractor and owner at Buckeye Natural Builders, is one of the many partners on the project. He poses for a portrait in Santa Cruz on April 16. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

Kita Glass, owner and contractor at Buckeye Natural Builders in Santa Cruz, is on the Just Places leadership team. He said when the time comes, he will be a contractor on the New Creation Village project. 

“They have four cabins there that need to get replaced, and so we want to replace them with strawbale cabins that are fully contained tiny houses,” Glass said.

Strawbale also absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, which will then be stored within the building itself, Glass said.

“It’s a really easy way to store carbon, take it out of the air and put it in the building,” he said.

Pastor Stan Abraham, of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, poses for a portrait in Soquel on April 20. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

There are currently six residents living in the unpermitted structures on the church property. 

Stan Abraham is the pastor at Mt. Calvary and said the church has welcomed unhoused residents to live on the 5-acre property for more than two decades. The arrangement has been a mutually positive one for both the church and unhoused people, he said, with the people living there seeing it as their home and some of the tenants being part of the congregation.

“It provides an atmosphere for them to have a resource of either counseling or spiritual care here,” Abraham said.

He said much of the congregation is made up of environmentally conscious members, and Just Place’s use of ecologically sound materials became of interest to them and gained internal support.

“We know from our congregation’s experience that providing safe and stable housing for those who so desperately need it makes a huge difference in their lives,” Abraham said of the project in a speech at a fundraiser on April 19.

To learn more about New Creation Village and register to volunteer visit Just Places.

Four unpermitted homes at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church could be replaced by permitted tiny houses built with sustainable materials. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

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