Crenshaw praises Tiny Home project

By Cara Helton Staff Writer

Congressman Dan Crenshaw inspired students when he visited campus to speak on the impact the Tiny Homes project has on veterans.

“Everybody wants to do something for veterans, there’s a million programs out there; but it’s important to do something that’s useful in filling a gap,” Crenshaw said. “When you’re doing something that actually has a clear result, I think that’s great. You should be really proud of it, and that’s what this is.”

Crenshaw spoke to the Tiny Homes students from Kingwood Park and Summer Creek, along with a few other CTE students, in the cafeteria on April 6. Afterward, he toured the newest home, which held its official completion ceremony on May 17.

As a former U.S. Navy SEAL, Crenshaw has a strong appreciation for programs like Tiny Homes. He talked about how difficult it is for veterans to adapt to civilian life after being in the military and how Tiny Homes is helpful in making veterans feel at home.

“There’s some veterans that just have a real hard time transitioning out of the military,” Crenshaw said.

“That’s just the reality of the situation, I was in that situation.”

Along with his speech about the significant impact made by Tiny Homes, Crenshaw also answered a variety of questions from students.

“It means a lot to me being able to help out a veteran, as Dan Crenshaw said, kickstart their new life after the military,” said senior Joe Stephenson, who has worked on the last two Tiny Homes. “It’s very nice and refreshing after putting in all our hard work seeing how it affects them.”

Stephenson said he really enjoys building the homes and was encouraged by Crenshaw’s talk. Architecture teacher Missi Taylor was also grateful for his appearance.

“I think it was very important that he took the time out of his day to come see the project and see what the kids have done,” Taylor said.

The students do everything themselves. First, they were given a budget of $1,000, which they must adhere to as they purchased parts. They had to research all parts of the computer, price comparing then having to come up with a business proposal. After being approved, the parts are ordered and the students wait excitedly as the parts come in one after another.

“Some of them have never built a computer before,” Nicholson said. “A lot of them learn and then go home and build their own computers.”

By adding this computer to the veterans’ homes, it opens them up to many more possibilities: online job applications, video games, streaming services. With the world becoming increasingly more online, having access to a computer is vital. Veterans are able to communicate with family members and much more.

The computer maintenance program isn’t stopping there. They want to take the project further by running an ethernet cable through the tiny homes community in Liberty.

Down the line, they hope to also open a workshop where students and teachers can bring their technology to have it fixed.

“Actually delivering it to the Tiny Home is always special,” Nicholson said. “It’s nice to continue to give students the knowledge of what it feels like and what it is to give back.”