A new tiny home has been built by the Laney College Carpentry Department. The department held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the tiny home Oct. 11 in the Laney Construction Canopy.
The final project was donated to the Shelterwood Collective, a non-profit organization founded by Layel Camargo, a former Laney carpentry student. According to their website, the organization seeks to return land sovereignty to black and indigenous communities throughout northern California.
Following a series of speeches given by students and faculty alike, carpentry student Lisa Pulianmackal had the honor of cutting the ribbon on the house.
Eight organizations attended the event, including the Oakland Workforce Development Board and Ghirardelli. Following the ribbon cutting, Peralta Community College District Trustee Louis Quindlen led a panel discussion with the organizations regarding trends in manufacturing, as well as potential training opportunities.
Matthew Wolpe, a faculty member for the Carpentry Department, heads the Tiny House project. Under Wolpe’s supervision, his students have built a total of four tiny homes.
The first tiny house, affectionately named “The Dandelion,” was completed back in 2014 and now resides in the Oakland Hills.
The carpentry program and its students worked for the last three semesters to complete the tiny home, and did so in record timing for the department.
“It’s actually the fastest we’ve built the house so far,” Wolpe said.
Multiple times during the building process, Wolpe and his team of students had met with The Shelterwood Collective to ensure the desired specifications of the house. However, Wolpe stated that many of the design decisions were made by the students alone.
“Laney is really embedded in the community,” Wolpe said. “And you know, we have really diverse students and they like doing meaningful projects that have a real world impact.”
The tiny house was delivered to The Shelterwood Collective on Oct. 20.
