Affordable Housing Tiny Home Community Breaks Ground in Chatham County

Garman Homes, a Cary, N.C.-based home builder, is partnering with XDS (Cross Disability Services Inc.), a nonprofit operating out of Pittsboro, N.C., to build a new community providing affordable housing for people with mental illness and other health conditions who are living on a fixed income.

The Tiny Homes Village, nestled on the 40-acre grounds of Chatham County’s The Farm at Penny Lane, will be comprised of 15 well-designed, affordable homes, five of which are reserved for veterans who have chronic health conditions. (The homes are not available for purchase.) Garman Homes will launch a swift, four-phase buildout and will finish construction in the summer of 2023.

“After experiencing a horrific humanitarian crisis first-hand as a child, I understand the criticality of having a safe place to call home,” said Thava Mahadevan, XDS founder and director of operations at UNC’s Centre for Excellence in Community Mental Health. “It’s been a long-time dream of mine to build attractive, small, affordable homes in a close-knit community where the residents can comfortably interact with one another. Garman Homes has been the perfect home building partner, as we both believe building with passion and driving people together is the key to marrying housing and health care.”