An Oregon State charity has been doing something incredible! To encourage greater security for homeless families who are living in tents, under freeway overpasses, or even in the back seats of vehicles they have been transforming old school buses into brand new tiny homes: fully functional, 240-square-foot houses on wheels.

As a resourceful solution to homelessness, these retired buses are proving to be cozy, quiet, spacious, and trendy – bigger than many New York City apartments. (1)

If you think that these tiny abodes might be too crowded, think again. 

From Transportation To Tiny Homes

In August 2016, Julie Akins, a freelance writer based in Ashland, Oregon, started a life-changing road trip. For the next two years, she set up her tent and lived among the homeless from Portland to Denver. On her travels, she found families living in old school buses. 

She came up with the concept of taking retired school buses and turning them into nice, livable spaces, with kitchens and bathrooms for working, homeless families.

In 2018, she launched the non-profit charity– Vehicles for Changes, with a plan to make one “Skoolie” a year.

“What I’m pushing toward,” said Akins, “is to make five per year.” (2)

For her, it wasn’t so much an ambition as an obvious need to create homes. According to the state Department of Education, at the time, there were more than 22,000 unsheltered students living in Oregon. A Wallet Hub study had compared Oregon with California, Nevada, and the District of Columbia as having the highest homeless rate of children and youth. (1)

She found in talking with her homeless friends, they wanted to have a place to live of their own: safe and mobile, so they could get better jobs.

When Akins blogged about her idea of starting a non-profit, a woman in Michigan — whom Akins has never met — asked for more information and eventually funded the non-profit for five years, giving $25,000 a year. The charity was secure, and the idea of tiny houses from old school buses was no longer a dream. (1)

Happy Destinations

Parents need to be sober, non-violent, and have the revenue to cover the RV space rent and be able to contribute to neighborhoods where they live to apply.

Vehicles For Change retains the home as “landlords.” If the families wish to purchase the skoolie after a year, they propose a sliding rate, interest-free payment plan. To create more houses, money goes back into the nonprofit. The idea is to permanently move families away from the streets.

Builder Alex Daniell, from Oregon, has spent years designing and building tiny houses for the homeless in Eugene, where he helped develop Opportunity Village and Emerald Village. He’s on the team and believes refitting retired school buses may be a better idea than tiny houses. It’s more cost-effective because there’s less to build from the ground-up.

It takes roughly eight months from demolition to completion and around $32,000 to upgrade a bus into a home. Recycling or upcycling is the ethos, and the comfort and style must not compromise functional needs. 

Families who have already received their skoolie claim that on the outside the buses look very small, but on the inside, they feel like mansions. They’re fully equipped with kitchens, bathrooms, showers, running water, and electricity.

With no requirements for permits, zoning change, land acquisition, or interfacing with bureaucracy, these buses are coming out of retirement to create happiness for some who need an assist in life. (1,2)