Gathering Tree opens city’s second Eden Village 

A second tiny-home development from The Gathering Tree nonprofit has opened for business. 

Eden Village 2 debuted with a Nov. 30 grand opening at 3155 W. Brower St., according to a news release. The community is able to house 24 disabled, chronically homeless people in a safe, gated community. Both of the Eden Villages are projects of The Gathering Tree, which been serving the homeless population in Springfield for 11 years. 

The tiny homes at the northwest Springfield site come fully furnished, and upon the filling of both communities, will have reduced the chronically homeless population of Springfield by 25%, according to the Eden Village website.  

“It is easy to change homelessness – get them a home,” said David Brown, founder of The Gathering Tree, in the release. “It is much harder to develop a community where healing and renewal can happen. This is what Eden Village is all about.”  

Nate Schlueter, Eden Village’s chief visionary officer, said both Eden Village developments will be at 100% capacity within the next two weeks. The northeast and northwest villages have 31 and 24 homes, respectively. Schlueter said the nonprofit also has land ready for a third village, but construction has not yet begun.  

The first resident in the first Eden Village, 2801 E. Division St., was able to say he was no longer homeless on August 28, 2018, nonprofit officials say. Since then, the Eden Village concept has expanded beyond Springfield and even beyond Missouri. An Eden Village has started the planning process in St. Joseph, and the cities of Wilmington and New Bern, North Carolina, have started planning and construction on their own Eden Villages based off The Gathering Tree’s concept.