Arizona housing company builds homes for Maui survivors
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - A company in the Phoenix area started building tiny homes to help with the housing shortage.
Now, they're trying to help the people of Maui whose homes burned to the ground.
The massive fires on the island of Maui have left thousands of people homeless. It's a problem Gail Kingsbury and Austin Bennett with United Tiny Homes in Goodyear are trying to help solve.
The company manufactures tiny homes that are roughly 400 square feet in size. Some have one bedroom, some have two.
They also have a kitchen and a bathroom, and are built with the same materials they use in a regular home.
Working on a plan
The owners are currently working on a plan to ship some of their homes over to Maui.
"This isnt necessarily emergency FEMA homes...It's a home. We build homes and so whether that's for now, for a little while, whether it's permanent home...all of those are options," Kingbury stated.
"The biggest issue is logistics: How are we going to get them on the boat? What size can we get over there? And of course, where are we going to put them once we get there?" Bennett questioned.
The average cost of these homes is about $130,000, significantly less than the cost of building a regular size home.
The company here has already been contacted by Home Depot and FedEx, who have both expressed interest in helping get these homes to Hawaii. A number of others have reached out as well. They will also announce how Arizona residents can help.
