PENSACOLA, Fla. — Finding an affordable rental home can be difficult, especially in the Northwest Florida area, where rent is seen to be rising.

The Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese has developed an affordable solution downtown, building a community of tiny homes. These homes are almost move-in ready.

This community of homes has been in the works for two years. They are located in Trinity Village.

It’s the Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee’s first housing project in the Panhandle. It’s developed to combat homelessness.

In fall 2024, the project was developed to create a small community of tiny homes.

Located on Garden Street in Downtown Pensacola, the nine were all built by private donations. They’re now fully built.

Executive director Deacon Ray Aguado says while construction is complete, the items that make a house a home are still needed. And that takes money.

“We are ready to go,” Aguado said. “What we are trying to do now is raise some funds in order to furnish these houses. You know, being tiny houses, it takes specific-sized furniture, so they have to be tiny to fit into a tiny house.”

All these houses are just under 300 square feet. They have everything a bigger house has: a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, sleeping area, laundry room, and front porch. It’s designed for single low-income occupants.

“We just wanted to create a safe place for folks to live, especially our seniors,” Aguado said.

Those wanting to apply will have to fill out an application, go through an interview with Trinity Village, along with a health screening and background check.

“We just don’t want to be landlords, we want to journey with these folks,” Aguado said. “So we are going to provide mentoring, case management, and we want to make sure that the situation that made them into becoming housing insecure doesn’t happen again or try to prevent that.”

The possibility of adding more tiny homes in Pensacola is also being discussed by Trinity Village.

The grand opening for these homes is set for May 1 with Bishop William Wack and Mayor D.C. Reeves set to attend.