The creation of tiny home villages and communities has gained momentum in the past decade, largely as a response to the housing and homelessness crisis. Many of these villages also happen to be founded by Christian social entrepreneurs and supported by churches. Surprisingly, given the progressive goals of the tiny home village founders and the prominence of Christian nationalism, many of these founders have strong network ties to evangelical communities.

Tiny homes are exactly what they sound like—small, efficiently designed houses that, in newer versions, include all the essentials of a standard home, from kitchens and bathrooms to full plumbing. They have gained traction as an alternative model of affordable housing and demonstrate early promise as an intervention for addressing chronic homelessness.

I began an early phase of interview and ethnographic data collection for this project, and plan to continue field site visits and interviews. Articles will be developed for both academic and public audiences. I trained as a sociologist and ethnographer at Princeton University and am currently a postdoc at Northwestern University where I serve as the co-PI on this IRB-approved project. My background includes more than a decade of experience conducting ethnographic and interview-based research.