Giving Compass' Take:

• A new project started in Paris last year called In My Backyard or IMBY which helps refugees by hosting them in tiny houses in the French residents' backyards. 

• The program is supposed to help increase the connection between  French people and refugees and foster understanding as the hosts help refugees become acclimated to life and culture in their new city and house. What emotional barriers still exist for refugees and residents in getting to know each other? 

• Read the Giving Compass guide on how to respond to the refugee crisis. 

In a backyard in the Paris suburb of Montreuil, one couple is taking part in an experiment: A new tiny house in their garden will become home to a series of refugees.

The project, called In My Backyard or IMBY, helps refugees who have a residence permit–but don’t yet feel like part of French society–connect with their French hosts as they get assistance in finding jobs and permanent homes. “People need to have networks other than just other refugees,” Romain Minod, an architect with the French nonprofit Quartorze, which created the project, tells Fast Company. Refugee housing is often isolated from existing neighborhoods; IMBY aims to bring refugees in close contact with people they might not otherwise have met.

It’s not only a building,” he says. “It’s more about living together.”

Homeowners agree to keep the tiny house for at least two years, at which point they can sign on for another two years, buy the house from the nonprofit to help financially support the program, or let it be dismantled and rebuilt in someone else’s backyard. Refugees are expected to stay six months; if they aren’t ready to leave at that point, they can stay, or another couple can take their place.

Read the full article about tiny houses by Adele Peters at Fast Company