NEW ORLEANS – Louvis Services, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing housing and supportive services to people facing homelessness in New Orleans, recently hosted an open house and ribbon cutting celebration for the newly constructed Fats Domino tiny house duplex. Located at 2229 Fats Domino Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward and designed by local architecture and interiors firm NANO LLC, the house is designed to help transition local homeless individuals from the streets into permanent housing.
Financing from NewCorp, Hope Credit Union, the Own the Crescent Program and individual donors — along with a $25,000 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation — enabled Louvis Services to break ground in October of 2022 on its first one-bedroom duplex prototype slated to be move-in ready this May.
“This is our first tiny house, and our goal is to replicate the model throughout the city of New Orleans,” said Lou Anne White, executive director of Louvis Services. “Our mission is to provide affordable housing opportunities to end homelessness in New Orleans – one person at a time.”
The tiny homes are one-bedroom duplex units designed to incorporate sustainable and local building materials and energy efficient appliances. The project also includes an edible landscape program that will give residents an opportunity to grow their own fresh vegetables. One unit is ADA-compliant and accessible to people with disabilities, and tenants will have access to service incentive programs focused on health and wellness.
Several partners were involved in the seven-month-long build. NANO provided pro bono architectural design and construction drawings. Colmex Construction served as the general contractor. Eskew Dumez Ripple provided drawings for the project’s marketing materials.
“This is a tiny house, so we had to maximize the space,” said NANO senior architect Kristine Kobila. “We had to create a house for people who don’t have a home right now. We were really honored to be part of this project.”
