DV has been an invaluable resource for thousands of homeless people over the past 14 years, by providing a safe sanitary environment for homeless people to regroup, get the sleep they need, store their things, and live in a vibrant community of peers that is 100% self-governed, while seeking work & permanent housing. Over the years, Dignity has constructed tiny houses, mostly with recycled materials and/or earth-friendly cob or hay bail construction.
Dignity specializes in accommodating those who otherwise typically fall through the huge cracks in the local shelter system, such as homeless peeps with pet, those who are coupled and want to sleep together, etc. and they do so WAY more cost-effectively than a traditional shelter.
Perhaps there can be some long-distance collaboration between these two efforts. For example, one of the key reasons Dignity Village was allowed to develop as it has is that Oregon has an obscure law on the books that waives normal building code requirements for "up to two sites per local jurisdiction", and allows a minimalist approach to codes, similar to what would be required for a rural campground. If this state law hadn't been on the books, the Dignity Village effort would have perished within 1-2 years of it's inception. Madison will need to address this eventually, or it will be plowed under by faux "concerns" about "health & safety", which officials cannot legally ignore; and which the media can easily play to sway public opinion against such tiny house encampments.
Here are some links to Dignity Village:
http://www.google.com/searchq=dignity+village+pics&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=mlHYUqqECY3qoATZlYLIBQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1387&bih=882
http://www.dignityvillage.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignity_Village
https://www.facebook.com/DignityVillageInc
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