Tiny home community launches first social enterprise making picnic tables

People who have moved intothe 12 Neighbours Inc. tiny homes in Fredericton are making and selling picnic tables as a way to help build a sense of community.

The tiny homes were constructed to give people who are homeless a place of their own.

Allan Smith said he already felt like he won the lottery when he moved into one of the tiny homes in February, but having the opportunity to build the wooden tables with his neighbours is a bonus.

"I'm loving it, I do, I love it there so much," Smith told Information Morning Fredericton.

"My wife is with me there and we came from living in a tent in the cold."

Smith said building the tables allows him to escape from his worries.

"I'm atpeace when I'm making them, I don't think about too muchjust live and get through the days."

Smith said he doesn't have any experience with woodworking, although he has worked as a welder,and says the chance to learn is why he loves building the tables so much.

Marcel LeBrun began the tiny home initiative last year to help with the province's affordable housing crisis.

So far, seventiny homes have been built and the community is beginning to grow.

LeBrun said the picnic table projectgot started when he suggested building onepicnic table for the community.

"I asked the guys if they wanted to build it and they did," he said.

It quickly turned into a social enterprise, withLeBrun payingcommunity members for their time.

Customers can now purchase solid wood tables of various sizes from an online site.

Once they receive an order, the residents can usually have a table built and ready for pickup in a couple ofhours, said Smith.

David Baxter said he ordered one of the tables as soon as they were online and rented a truck to pick it up.

He said it's the biggest table he's ever seen.

"Incredible construction I'm going to call it my harvest table," said Baxter.

In tiny homes community, social enterprise builds seat at the table

3 years ago

Duration 5:24

Three residents of the 12 Neighbours Community in Fredericton have started making picnic tables to sell to the public.

Baxter said he saw the idea behind the social enterprise on social media and wanted to support it.

"It's such a beautiful way to build community," said Baxter.

He said it means so much more to buy a piece of furniture from members of the community who take pride in their work and enjoy building it.

Residents find a home

Randy Birch moved into the tiny home community in February.

"Nice little spot... it'svery comfortable. Good neighbours so far," he said.

"Marcel is a great guy there, he's been really helpful getting us settled in."

Birch said he had been moving from place to place over the past few years, experiencing apartment fires and flooding.

He said it became impossible to find affordable housing and decided to move into his car.

"It's not just Fredericton. I had the ability to go from Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton, wherever I wanted to go.," he said.

"The housing situation in this province is I don't know they've lost it."

Birch said he felt a sense of relief when he was told he could move intoone of the tiny homes.

He said hewas sleep deprived from living in his car for a year,and slept for a few days after moving to his new home.

Birch said it's been a learning curve for him to work with others and make friends, since he's been on his own for so long.

"They're good guys to work with," he said.

Smith said he and his wife were evicted from their apartment four years ago because their landlord no longer wanted to offer subsidized housing.

He said they never recovered financially.

They stayed in motels at first and eventually ended up living in a tent.

"My wife didn't think I would make it through that," said Smith.

"It was a hard time for a while, but now we're in a home and we're happy there, really happy."

Smith said his wife suffers from a mental illness and that his first priority was getting her somewhere warm and safe.

He said that way if anything happened to him, he knew she would be alright.