Tiny houses, big impact: Gwendolyn Hooker’s housing vision in Kalamazoo
As Helping Other People Exceed (HOPE) continued to grow, one issue kept appearing: many people had jobs and income but still could not find landlords willing to rent to them because of past criminal records. Many were couch surfing, sleeping in cars, or moving from one temporary situation to another. Eventually Founder and CEO Gwendolyn Hooker said, the solution became clear. “If people aren’t going to rent to the population that I serve,” she said, “then I’m just going to build my own houses.”
