A tiny housing village in Langley nearing completion is in search of more volunteers to help finish the project before winter approaches.

Tiny Houses in the Name of Christ, or THINC, is a project five years in the making. Earlier this year, ground was finally broken following much planning.

Community members and volunteers from half a dozen South Whidbey churches worked diligently all summer to build nine compact 264-square-foot homes on the property within Langley city limits. But with the onset of colder, wetter weather, some of them have temporarily moved south for a warmer climate.

Island Church of Whidbey, Calvary Chapel, St. Hubert Catholic Church, Langley United Methodist Church, Trinity Lutheran Church and South Whidbey Assembly of God each chose a house to sponsor. In addition, South Whidbey citizens unaffiliated with any one church are sponsoring the other three homes.

The homes will be rented out affordably to low-income, employed people. Priority will be given to families with children.

“It’s really impossible to go to school when you don’t have a place to sleep and a place to sit down and do your homework at night,” said Coyla Shepard, one of THINC’s founders.

She added that the organization’s housing plans are readily available for anyone who wants to replicate what is being done in Langley. Each home is built with a kitchen and living area, a bathroom and bedroom big enough for a double bed or bunk bed.

“People come and interview and they can’t find a place to live and then leave,” Shepard said. “Our hope is this will be the model and other groups will carry it on as a community project.”

One of the nine homes will be wheelchair-accessible and made out of cedar instead of the traditional materials used in building the other homes on the property. When it rains, volunteers hastily toss a tarp over the house’s in-progress construction, since any sign of humidity causes the timber to swell up and its interlocking structure to fail.

Jeff Motto, a parishioner of St. Hubert Catholic Church in Langley, said he had expected the other homes to be a clone of one another – but that hasn’t been the case so far. There are some slight differences, such as changes in siding and exterior decoration.

In addition, members of the churches are not limited to working strictly on the house that their church has chosen to sponsor.

“We don’t quite orient only to our own places,” Motto said. “We kind of opened up the doors and said, ‘Hey, you guys need some help with something? Let’s give you a hand.’”

With the house she’s sponsoring with her husband, Judith Winquist is striving to make creative storage areas in the eaves, something that’s also being done in the other houses.

“Nobody can afford to work and live in Langley anymore. Everybody’s driving from Coupeville or Oak Harbor even, because there’s affordable housing there,” she said. “This is meant to support communities like this.”

Volunteers are primarily retirees. Construction runs from 9 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with a break at noon for lunch and socialization.

“I would like four people on every house finishing it up, and we don’t have that,” Shepard said.

There is still much work to do inside the houses, including painting and installing insulation, sheetrock, flooring and cabinets.

To volunteer, text or call Shepard at 360-969-9444 – or simply show up at the 722 Camano Ave. site.

Shepard said THINC has already received many inquiries from interested renters. The waitlist is currently at about 50 people.

To sign up to get on the waitlist, email Karla Salgado, THINC’s treasurer, at resourcemanager@thincwhidbey.com.

Though close to the finish line, the project has not been without its challenges. But recently, THINC celebrated receiving a state grant totaling $70,245 that will cover project costs related to infrastructure.

On Monday, during a special meeting, Langley Councilmembers Gail Fleming, Craig Cyr and Rhonda Salerno authorized Mayor Scott Chaplin to sign the grant contract. Shepard and Salgado both attended the meeting.

“I really appreciate you bringing this grant opportunity forward,” Salgado said. “Without the city, we couldn’t have done this.”

Photo by David Welton Rodney Robertson, president of International Homes of Cedar, Inc., right, shows contractor Greg Gilles the plans for the wheelchair-accessible cedar home that will become part of the affordable tiny housing village in Langley.

Photo by David Welton Betsy McCullough and Clancy Dunigan, both of Langley United Methodist Church, work on staining the cedar tiny home.

Photo by David Welton Betsy McCullough and Clancy Dunigan, both of Langley United Methodist Church, work on staining the cedar tiny home.

Photo by David Welton The structure of the tiny house village is built. There is still much work to do inside the homes, including painting and installing insulation, sheetrock, flooring and cabinets.