Constance's Bus

An Incredible Family needs a home:
Constance's Bus

Constance, David and Miracle, are a loving family from Richmond California, that have been struggling with homelessness. They have been living in and out of shelters and cars for the past two and a half years  since a  spine injury prevented Constance from working, and they couldn't afford rising bay area rents.  Now a team of students from UC Berkeley is working with local non-profits Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and Tentmakers Inc. to build a transit bus into the family’s dream tiny home. In the Process, they plan to create a program that continues to employ and train people from within the homeless community to build tiny houses.  Making tiny houses for the homeless, by the homeless.

We need your help to raise funds now, so we can build Constance’s bus before her family is done with their current stay at Greater Richmond Interfaith program in May, and are forced back on the streets.

Constance Miracle and David spreading smiles as usual.

Constance, Miracle, and David’s story

Constance is the loving mother of two children, Miracle and David. She was born and raised in Richmond, and when she’s not volunteering for her community, she loves singing gospel music at her local church.  Miracle is an 8 year old fireball that loves monkey bars and singing songs from Disney movies. Everywhere she goes, people stop in their tracks and suffer from cuteness overload. David is one of the most cool and collected 10 year olds we have ever met. He loves playing football and video games, and is constantly impressing us with his wisdom. 
Constance's family's lives took a turn when a spinal injury took Constance out of her work as a tradeswoman, and bus driver.  As a result, Constance struggled to find work that could provide enough to afford the ever-increasing Bay Area Rent prices. Now, Constance and her family have been in and out of shelters and cars for the last two and a half years. In that time, Constance has acquired a used transit bus, and has been tirelessly working to find help to convert it into a beautiful home for her family. 

Constance is not only determined to build her own family a home, but she also is adamant about being an active leader in the fight for affordable housing, and helping those that are even worse off then herself.  It was this passion to give back that inspired THIMBY to work with Constance on the first tiny house project. 

Check out this Amazing video from CALTV!
and also Check out the SF Chronicle Article   on our project!

The Build

Constance’s Bus is going to be built by the homeless, for the homeless. With the help of THIMBY and Tentmakers Non-profit, the build will be lead by master tiny house builder and member of the homeless community, William Burdick. THIMBY met William at a tiny house convention last spring and decided that William (mostly known to us as Billy) would be the perfect man to hire for this job. Billy is not only an incredibly skilled craftsman, but he is also a passionate community member who is dedicated to fighting issues of homelessness in the Bay Area. Billie will be working with Joe Serrano from Tentmakers to guide our team through the build process to get the job done before constance is done with her current shelter stay in May.  Billy, Constance, and the THIMBY team have spent the few months creating the perfect design, build plan, and budget for the bus.  Our Goal is to create the best possible home for Constance's family, with the smallest budget possible, so that this model can be replicated for other homeless individuals.

The Design is ready to be built!!

We will be renovating the bus at the UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station, a space donated to the team by the University. We will begin the build this winter and plan to be done by early spring.  

Upon completion,  Transitional Homeless shelter Greater Richmond Interfaith Program will be providing social services, and helping place Constance’s bus on a safe property with the help of their network of churches, and community leaders.


Where is the money going?

Our Goal is to raise $27,775 to pay for materials, mechanical work, and labor costs to get the bus done on time. The labor money paid will helping employ members of the homeless community. Our Goal with this project was to make the build as cost effective as possible while delivering an amazing home to Constance's kids, and providing employment opportunities to people within the homeless community.  We want to create a model that is replicable for other to follow in many communities.

Any extra funds we receive will go directly to paying for future tiny houses for the homeless.



Other Ways You Can Help

First, We need help sharing our story. Post, re-tweet, and share our videos and social media. We want to share Constance’s story with the world to inspire positive change! All links to Socials are at the bottom of the page

Second, we would love donations of skilled labor, materials, or land for Constance to park the bus. 

If you have something to donate, please Check out the materials list below and fill out this GOOGLE FORM 


Check out the SF Chronicle Article about the Project HERE! 

Website: http://calthimby.org/ 

Blog: http://calthimby.org/blog/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caltinyhouse 

Instagram: @calthimby 


We appreciate your support in any capacity, and we are so excited to see project develop into something truly incredible.


With Much Love, and Gratitude,

Constance, David, Miracle,
And the THIMBY Team