Man behind Toronto tiny homes sets up new models in private backyard

The man behind micro-shelters once placed in Toronto's St. James Park is continuing his work even after the city removed them — and for one unhoused man, it's made all the difference.

"It saved my life," Paul Corbett Greer Jewell, 65, said of his new home, one of four new micro-shelters set up on a Leslieville property.

"It's a safe, warm place for me with locks and everything else, and security that I can go out and look for jobs and get myself back in order. It's a really great transitional thing," he added.

"It's a home base."

After years sleeping on streets and in shelters, last week, Jewel moved into the tiny shelter located in the backyard of Lazarus House, emergency transitional housing operated by Seeds of Hope Foundation, a charitable organization. Lazarus House provides housing for people unable to access shelter spaces and who are at risk of living outside.

Ryan Donais, founder of Tiny Tiny Homes, a non-profit organization, built the tiny shelters. Donais previously set up five tiny mobile homes in St. James Park, near King Street E. and Jarvis Street, for unhoused people.

All five units were removed from the park, one by one, after the city sent Donais a cease and desist letter and he worked with the city to find permanent housing for each tenant. The units were moved to Lazarus House but he has installed newer models.

Now, Donais says he is continuing his work to try to house people without homes in Toronto.

"It's cold out and you get people indoors," Donais said on Friday.

"The purpose of Tiny Tiny Homes is to get people off the street and into a tiny home and then transition them into permanent housing. It's a stepping stone. It's not a solution," he added.

"We've been in some collaborative conversations with the city ... We want to work with the city and we want to get more people housed."

The four shelters in Leslieville, two of which are occupied, are 48 square feet, with room for a bed and a shelving unit. Built with refrigeration panels, they have wall sconces, a smoke detector and a 1000-watt heater.

The units are built according to the Ontario Building Code and their electrical systems are Electrical Safety Authority inspected.

Donais said the city hasn't raised any issues about the tiny shelters yet.