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A woman over 50 turned her van into a serene 'tiny home' and has lived in it for 3 years

"I needed my soul to heal."

Photo by Leo_Visions on Unsplash

A van in the desert.

Sometimes, when life gets too complicated, we need to slow down and get smaller. This was the case for Lori Losch, who woke up one day, post-50-years-old, and decided it was time for a change.

As she explains in a video posted to the Tiny Homes YouTube channel, "I decided to do 'van life' for a couple of reasons. One was to heal from some pretty traumatic life events. And the other was to find a smaller town to move to, to be able to interview small towns as I traveled."

Losch reveals on her website that she battled addiction for a quarter of a century. "I’m a soul who finally broke free from the addiction cycle after a 25-year battle. I used the pain of powerlessness, acute anxiety, and bouts of deep depression to point me towards truth and freedom." After leaning into 12-step programs, psychedelic plant healing, faith, and relying on her community, she shares she has truly learned what it is to be alive.

Part of that is traveling, and this is something she likes to do on her own terms. So, she custom-designed a van to feel like a "tiny home" where she lives, works, travels, and heals. She even bought a custom curtain to separate the front area (where the driving happens) from the back so that it feels less like an RV and more like a home.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

On her tour, she first shows the viewers a swivel desk. "It's been an amazing feature, this lagoon table." It serves as her office when she's talking to clients, but also as a hub if she just wants to sip a latte or watch a movie on her laptop with her dog by her side.

She designed her kitchen so that her sink would have a big window view, which changes daily. "I wanted to have a lot of counter space and also the butcher block creates just warmth in the van." Of the large sink, she loves that she can wash her 11-pound dog Tessa in it. Her tiny fridge/freezer is "low volt," above which she has organized food storage. "You learn how to live just much more minimally, but I cook great food in this little kitchen. You know how they say three-point kitchen? Well, this is a one-point kitchen and it's perfection."

Losch also notes that when you scale down to just the essentials, you might find greater value in those things. She alludes to having had large homes in the past, one with "1500 books." Now, she simply has the books she's reading or plans to read. "When I'm done with them, they move on to other people." (The books incidentally hide the interior antenna for her "weBoost system," which helps boost cell service "when you're in a dodgy spot.")

books, cozy corner, design, van life, travel An open book sitting on top of a table next to a candle. Photo by anotherxlife on Unsplash

The bathroom is incredibly innovative, but, ironically, she found she didn't need much of what was built. She points out that while she has an exterior shower, she thought she wanted an interior shower, as well. And although she has a super cool setup wherein she flips a little table over and puts up a shower curtain, she prefers showering outside. As for the toilet, "I got a Cassette Toilet. It's like the best thing you can buy and I've never put my butt on it." She continues, "I climb a lot of mountains. I'm mainly out in nature, and nature is fine." Instead, she uses the area for laundry and storage and claims, "I roll with it cuz it's here. I use it for something different than I anticipated."

Her bedroom is cozy and, though she designed it like a little cave, it has a small window too. She got a ten-inch foam mattress set up at the back of the van, and the doors hinge out. She shares, "When I'm backed onto a lake or a river, I open up both doors and they hinge 270 degrees. That was super important to me. So I'm just up here, room with a view—it's awesome."

lake view, van life, outdoor living, mental health, travel A lake surrounded by mountains. Photo by clement fusil on Unsplash

Every design decision came with a lot of research and intentionality. She has an AC and diesel heating system, which she explains, "...Uses your fuel. It pipes out from under the passenger seat into the van and takes about two minutes, literally, to heat this place up." She also meticulously built a garage that houses the electrical features. "I went with 300 solar watt panels on the roof and they charge 400 amp hours of lithium battery. And I've got a DC to DC inverter, so when you're driving the van, it's also charging."

She explains, "A question I get asked often is 'Why? Why the van? Why tiny living?' And I think for me, my life was always fairly contained. I liked to live below my means. I didn't like a whole lot of extravagance and waste. Then I got married and I found myself with someone who was extravagant in a lot of things, with multiple homes. When I came out of it, it's like the pendulum had to go way back this way for my soul to heal."

Losch shares her end game is to "find a piece of land" to build on and be self-contained. And though people tell her that her van is small, she says it's not about the size of the van, "It's about where the van takes you."

The comments, and there are over a thousand, buzz with support. One person writes, "I don't know which is more beautiful—this lovely woman, or the peaceful home she has created. Wonderful video, and I wish her healing and happiness in her travels."

So many seem to relate to her need for repair after addiction and are inspired by the idea that one can change their life at any age. "What a gorgeous woman! She is over 50—let that sink in... Oh, and the van is lovely—kudos to her!"


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Couple says living on a floating cabin saves a ton of money and is great for their mental health

They saved $27,500 a year overall.

@keepingalfoatwiththejoneses/Instagram

Inexpensive and tranquil…what's not to like?

Saving money and living comfortably don’t always go hand in hand, but people do find ways to accomplish it. Sometimes all it takes is thinking a little outside the box—getting a job that allows you to travel the world or swapping out a traditional mortgage for more creative, less costly home ideas.

Take this couple in North Carolina, for example, who gave up living on land to move into a floating cabin and apparently saved $27,500 annually by doing so.

According to Good News Network, Sarah Spiro, 27, and her boyfriend, Brandon Jones, 40, break down the math: Their one-bedroom floating home, which they bought in March 2021, originally cost less than $30,000. The pair then spent two months and $23,000 renovating, for a total initial investment of less than $50,000. And now, they pay $2,500 a year to live on the lake. Yes, you read that right. $2,500 a year. They used to pay that much per month on their combined individual rents.

Obviously, it was a “no brainer,” said Spiro.

If you think this home is not equipped for modern life, guess again. It’s entirely solar powered, has a septic tank that gets pumped out weekly, a wood stove for heat and propane for cooking, a filter to make the lake water drinkable…and yes, it has internet.

Of course, there are some challenges. Winters are quite cold, the nearest grocery store is still 40 minutes away and they can’t get food delivered (imagine a poor DoorDash driver having to rent a paddleboat just to drop off some McDonalds). But still, Spiro and Jones’ floating cabin has worked wonders for their mental health.

“It is so peaceful here. You still have your day-to-day trends like doing the dishes and laundry but you get to do it all in this phenomenal view at all times. Whatever the time, whatever you are doing you are surrounded by peace and serenity—it is paradise," Spiro said according to Good News Network.

So…this is basically like living on a cruise ship for introverts. Genius.

Take a tour inside with the video below:

Spiro and Jone share an Instagram and Youtube account, aptly named @KeepingAfloatWithTheJoneses, where they share helpful tips to anyone else who might want to live that sweet “water rat” lifestyle. You can even follow along to get updates on renting a floating cabin for yourself.

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Salt Lake City is leading with compassion by building a tiny home village for the homeless

Other cities could adopt this approach.

Photo by Karl Hedin on Unsplash

Salt Lake City is building a tiny home village.

Homelessness is a problem that plagues many cities and there are so many different approaches to address the issue. Salt Lake City is trying a compassionate approach by building a tiny home village to address its homelessness problem. The city council is looking to lease eight acres of land to build 430 tiny homes as a safe place for homeless people to get on their feet.

There's more.

Salt Lake City isn't just placing people into tiny homes and calling the job done. It's also providing services and resources to help residents succeed in eventually being able to move on from the village and into permanent homes. The village is expected to cost around $13.8 million to complete and the city council voted 7 to 0 in favor of moving forward. City council member Alejandro Puy told Fox 13, "We need to do everything in our power to mitigate not only the consequences but bring good things to the westside."

In 2020, there were 580,466 people experiencing homelessness in America, which far out numbers the amount of beds available in homeless shelters. Since there are so few beds available compared to the number needed, there are large numbers of people who are forced to sleep completely unsheltered. Depending on where someone finds themselves without a home, their treatment may be different as there's no universal plan to address the issue.

Hostile architecture.

Wikicommons

Some cities don't exactly embrace empathy and compassion when planning how to handle their homeless population. Several large cities in America, including New York and Philadelphia, have spent millions of dollars on what has been coined "hostile architecture." It's where they make park benches slanted or awkwardly divided to discourage people from sleeping there. Some places have even placed spikes and boulders under overpasses that are often used to escape the elements for people without other means of shelter.

But not all cities are attempting to make it difficult to be homeless. Columbus, Ohio, has been working to keep people off the streets in a more effective and compassionate way for nearly 40 years. In 1986, Columbus created a Community Shelter Board, which controls the funds, programs and homeless response, and in 2000 the city took it a step further by building permanent supportive housing. The Community Shelter Board also makes sure the requirements to enter their shelters are extremely lenient to make it easier for people to get the assistance they need.

Soup kitchen.

Canva

Thanks to the gentle and humanitarian approach to homelessness, Columbus maintains a lower homeless population. As Salt Lake City continues to move forward with its tiny home village, it will likely follow closely in the steps of Columbus ensuring that everyone who wants a home has one.

Ending homelessness isn't something that can happen overnight and won't be an easy task because it's not a straightforward issue. Seeing cities lean more heavily into understanding the root causes of homelessness and doing their part to fix it is heartwarming. For now, it's unclear what will come next in the process for building the tiny home village, but when it's complete, lives could be changed for generations.

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These unique tiny homes are designed to help pull low-income families out of poverty.

Owning a home is part of the American dream, but for people who are in poverty or were recently homeless, it's often just that: a dream.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

The Tiny Homes project in Detroit hopes to change that.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

The project was born out of a nonprofit called Cass Community Social Services (CCSS), run by Rev. Faith Fowler, who began thinking about how property is passed down within families after her mother passed away a few years ago.

The goal of the project is to give people with low incomes or who were recently homeless the opportunity to own homes of their own.

"We were looking for a way to help homeless and other low-income people gain an asset," Fowler explained over email.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

These tiny homes are unique for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most significant is that while similar tiny-home homeless relief projects have popped up in other locations, Cass Community Tiny Homes is the first to offer properties that are rent-to-own.

This is an important distinction because of the advantages that come from owning property, like building equity and tax deductions. Perhaps the most significant benefit, however, is what owning property can do for a family in the long term. Studies show the main reason children from wealthier families end up doing better financially as adults than children from poorer families comes down to their parents owning more valuable properties in nicer neighborhoods with better schools — homes that they pass down to their kids.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

Here's how the rent-to-own plan works: The tiny-home community reaches out through shelters and neighborhood canvassing to find people who are ready to move into a home but can't afford one. There is a review process for prospective tenants that culminates with an interview. Once accepted, tenants start a year lease, paying rent no more than a third of their monthly salary.

The rental price of each unit is $1 per square foot, meaning a 250-square-foot house costs $250 a month to rent. Because the tiny homes are built for energy efficiency, utilities are estimated to be quite low, approximately $35 a month.

A blueprint for one of the tiny homes. Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

After seven years of paying rent, the tiny house becomes the tenant's property. There's just one catch: mandatory attendance at monthly financial coaching and home-ownership classes.

Currently, the Detroit Tiny Homes community has enough property to build 25 single-family homes ranging from 250 to 400 square feet.

The tiny homes share borders with the CCSS campus, so unlike many low-income housing projects, residents live side-by-side, mixed in with the local community rather than separated from it. In fact, some of the tiny houses may eventually be occupied by students and CCSS staff members.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

The development is funded entirely by private donations and foundations, including the Ford Motor Fund, the RNR Foundation, and the McGregor Fund.

The best part? There will be 25 different styles of houses — a different design on each lot.

Unlike many shelters, these residences aren't drab or uniform in any way. Each one has a gorgeous facade with lots of details and a unique architectural style.

Image by CCSS/Vimeo.

"We want to instill a sense of pride in the residents," wrote Fowler. "Most people will be coming from situations where everyone had the same bland setting (shelters in particular). We also believe by having so many styles in a concentrated area that others will be drawn to the neighborhood."

So far, over 600 people have applied for the units, and construction of the first six units is underway.

Here's the first tiny house, which was completed on Sept. 6, 2016:

Because tiny homes can be constructed so quickly and cheaply, CCSS plans to expand the project to accommodate larger families.

According to Fowler, there are many more vacant lots near the original building sites, allowing the project to grow exponentially.

Image via CCSS/Vimeo.

If successful, these tiny housing developments could change everything for low-income families in Detroit. They'll provide an opportunity that wasn't there before: to own property that they can pass down to future generations, giving them a sturdy foundation on which they can rely.

Learn more about CCSS' Tiny Homes project here:

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