ESCONDIDO — Construction students at San Pasqual High School recently raised the walls on a newly built tiny mobile home that, when finished, will house once-homeless veterans.
San Pasqual is the second local high school to partner with the Warrior Village Project, a Fallbrook-based nonprofit that teaches young adults future career skills in construction while providing housing for homeless veterans.
In 2019, Mark Pilcher started the project alongside Michael McSweeney, the California Homebuilding Foundation’s career and technical education coordinator, and students in the construction pathway at San Marcos High School.
Since then, San Marcos students have built two tiny homes and are working hard on a third. Pilcher said the first home, now owned by the Wounded Warrior Project, has already provided residence to several veterans.
San Marcos and San Pasqual students are both currently working on modular – or mobile – tiny homes, allowing them to be transported elsewhere.
San Pasqual’s home will be 168 square feet on a 20-foot-long, 8-foot-wide trailer with wheels. The dwelling will feature cabinets built by Palomar College students and a Murphy-type bed that folds into the wall for extra space. Once finished, the home will also have a small deck to provide extra outdoor living space.
“It’s like a studio on wheels,” said McSweeney, who taught the students how to frame the walls.
San Pasqual just began work on its tiny home in January, and with summer break approaching next month, students will have to wait until next year to finish the project.
Although the home won’t be finished by the end of this year, seniors like Darius Jones had the privilege of experiencing a major achievement in the construction world: raising the walls of a new home.
Jones, who plans to enlist in the Navy after graduation, was one of eight students in San Pasqual’s CTE Construction pathway who raised the walls of the school’s first tiny home on May 7.
Jones has spent the last three years learning valuable, career-ready skills in the construction program.
“I like working with my hands building stuff,” he said. “It’s a good feeling when you finish something.”
Working with the Warrior Village Project, Jones had two reasons to feel good about completing his part in the tiny home.
“I’m just glad I get to help homeless people,” he said.
San Pasqual construction instructor Brandon Tarrac was grateful for his students’ opportunity to work with Pilcher and McSweeney on the project. Tarrac also praised Escondido-based Dixieline Lumber for donating materials to the cause.
“Everything we do here involves training modules on a small scale where it’s OK to mess up and learn how to fix it. This is learning how to build a home the right way, understanding that’s not just how to do it but also how to build it up to code so it passes state inspection and actually stands up…It translates to skills that they can actually put on their resume,” Tarrac said. “It’s a real-world project – someone’s going to live in it, so it’s not just a training module anymore. That’s what gets them a job.”
Tarrac, a Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Fallujah during the Iraq War, knows what it’s like to see fellow servicemembers struggle after returning home and commended the program for providing the necessary support veterans need to transition back into civilian life.
I’ve seen what that does to people there and coming back,” he said. “Many people don’t have the resources they need to navigate and adjust back to civilian society, so this is just one thing we can do to help give them a place to stay and find those additional resources.”
Pilcher plans to expand the project with similar programs at other area schools and continue to work with San Marcos and San Pasqual high schools.
“I’m hoping to add at least one more school next fall,” Pilcher said. “The goal is to add more schools each year.”
Pilcher is also seeking more nonprofit organizations to take over the tiny homes once they are finished to provide housing to other homeless veterans in the region.
