Big dreams, tiny house

LONG VALLEY  Later this year, the non-profit Operation Chillout is looking forward to enacting its plan of giving the first of five homeless veterans the opportunity to engage in some old-fashioned therapy: working on re-entry into society, in part by learning how to work the land of a local farm while at the same time residing in a custom-designed mirco-home on the property.

That’s because last month, the Washington Township Committee passed a resolution to approve provisional zoning requirements, so farms can host micro-housing units — to be less than 300 square feet and no more than 13.5 feet tall — for veterans. These energy efficient, flex-fuel, attractive and livable “micro homes,” also known as “tiny houses,” will sit on wheels that will enable them to be moved. The first unit will be ready to house the first vet in the late fall or early winter, said Deacon Raymond Chimileski of St. Luke Parish, Long Valley, founder and executive director of Operation Chillout, the veterans’ outreach, which is building the tiny home.

“These mirco-homes will be a wonderful opportunity to open vistas for previously homeless veterans, who are motivated to maintain their physical and mental health, recapture their wellness and get back into mainstream society,” said Deacon Chimileski, who noted that these vets can learn the art of farming and will have the opportunity to earn a degree in agriculture from Rutgers University. “These vets also need to have and entrepreneurial spirit. For them, working the land can be therapeutic and give some great skills,” he said.

The Washington Township Committee requires the mirco-homes to be occupied throughout the year. The planning board still needs to approve the plans, while Operation Chillout needs to demonstrate that the homes would confirm to local ordinances. The measure will allow the organization — the first and only all-volunteer mobile outreach and rescue for homeless vets in New Jersey — to construct up to five micro-homes to be placed on farm sites, Deacon Chimileski said.

Operation Chillout plans that the first micro-home will be solar capable with the help of continuing donations. The unit measures 28 feet long, eight feet wide and 13 feet high and houses a bath with a sink, shower and environmentally-friendly toilet; a kitchen with a stove and refrigerator; and a room with a TV and a pullout murphy bed so that the space can be used as a living room. The first of the innovative S.T.I.L.E. homes — which stands for Supported, Temporary Individual Living Experience — is 95 percent complete with only painting, staining, utility hook up and location to the site left to finish, Deacon Chimileski said.

Still in its infancy, the program remains flexible. The vets — who have yet to be selected — can live in these units for up to two years with an opportunity to work on the farm site. They also will continue to receive supporting services from the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA). The first veteran will live on a farm in Washington Township, which stores and distributes grain and hay, Deacon Chimileski said.

Operation Chillout starred construction of the first unit, inspired by a newspaper story that Deacon Chimileski read, which reported on a church in southern New Jersey that was planning to create a homeless veterans’ tiny home community on land previously used as a RV campground. He visited members of the church to learn more about their outreach and then presented the idea to Operation Chillout’s leadership team, which approved it. The first home will be on public display this Sunday, Sept. 16, at Branchburg Rotary Motorcycle Run at the North Jersey Central Airport in Manville and again on the weekends of Oct. 13-24 and Oct. 20-21 at the Ort Farm Corn Maze on Bartley Farm Road in Long Valley, Deacon Chimileski said.

In 2000, Operation Chillout began with an outreach to a single homeless Vietnam veteran who lived under a bridge in Dover. Today, the organization’s all-volunteer team serves homeless people throughout New Jersey, northeast Pennsylvania and southern-coastal Rhode Island on a “no borders-no boundaries” mission. In the winter it collects and delivers backpacks filled with new warm clothing to the most in need living on the street and in temporary shelters. In the summer the group collects and delivers cases of life-saving water and new warm weather clothing. Its emergency hotline and Rapid Response Team rescues about five new homeless veterans each week, provides temporary motel housing and reconnects veterans to VA healthcare and rehabilitative services, Deacon Chimileski said.

“We believe in the inherent worth of every homeless man, woman and child and provide emergency supplies and survival gear to the most vulnerable members of our communities wherever we encounter them. We bring our care to all homeless people without regard to their religious affiliation, ethnic heritage or state of life,” according to Operation Chillout’s website, www.operationchillout.org.