Eden Village, a local faith-based tiny home community that provides housing for homeless individuals, has two major developments in the works: 3D printed duplex units and a respite program for homeless individuals discharged from the hospital.

The local Eden Village community off Kornegay Avenue in Wilmington is based on the original Eden Village model in Springfield, Missouri. It’s one of 12 Eden Villages being built across the country, according to a news release.

The nonprofit currently offers 31 tiny homes for disabled and homeless individuals, and officials expect crews to build the new duplex units at its Eden Village Annex (EVA) in early 2026, according to Shawn Hayes, the community’s director.

“The Eden Village Annex is just an extension to what we’re doing here,” he said. “We’re gonna do six duplexes, so we’re adding 12 more units onto our campus here.”

Its new respite program – known as the Respite at Eden Village (REV) – will specifically offer shelter, medical care and social services to homeless individuals exiting the hospital.

Hayes said Eden Village purchased a duplex for the respite program using a state grant, and he added that the home is for transitional housing.

The program is being developed in collaboration with the Salvation Army and Novant Health, and it’ll provide those leaving the hospital with a place to heal for 30 days at no cost.

Novant Health’s Hospital at Home Program will provide medical care, and the Salvation Army will provide social services support. When individuals leave the hospital, they can go to REV and then to the Salvation Army facility.

Hayes said housing is related to health care, and many homeless individuals are often discharged from the hospital without a safe place to return to. He pointed out that this can lead many to end up back in the hospital.
“Whatever medical issue they left with, a lot of times they end up coming right back to that hospital with that same issue when we could really house them until they fully recover and then help them find somewhere to go,” he said.

“It’s a no-brainer to take them and put them in a facility where they’re safe, where they can recover (and) where they can receive the resources they need,” he added. He also talked about how they could bring in social workers while these individuals are recovering.

But as for the new homes, Hayes said they’ll have the same basic layout as Eden Village’s existing homes. One difference is that all the walls of the duplexes will be 3D-printed.

The 31 units at Eden Village are modular homes that were built in a climate-controlled facility.

The new 3D-printed homes, however, will be 452 square feet each and feature fireproof concrete walls that can withstand winds of up to 250 mph. Plus, it will take six days to print each home using ICON Vulcan machines.

“(We) want to make Wilmington a city where no one sleeps outside,” Hayes said. “We say that all the time, but there’s several different ways to do that, right? And so we’re focusing here on permanent housing for individuals who are chronically homeless and have some sort of disability.”

Eden Village has secured funding from many sources, including the state, New Hanover County, the city of Wilmington, the Bruce Barclay Cameron Foundation, the New Hanover Community Endowment and the State Employees’ Credit Union.

Foundations, churches, local families, civic groups and businesses have also helped fund the project.

Hayes also shared his hopes for Eden Village over the next five years, emphasizing the importance of action.

“We don’t want to keep talking,” he said. “We want to keep doing, because the more we do, the more our friends who are in need get the help that they need. So in the next five years, we have to do something.”
He added that the nonprofit must continually make strides forward, and he shared that the EVA project is one of the byproducts of those intentions. And according to Hayes, Eden Village is still seeking more land to establish another village.
“We’re constantly looking for an opportunity to do something, and if that’s with other agencies, that’s what we’re doing,” he said. “If that’s with other homeless providers, we’ve partnered with everybody around here in some way.”
Hayes added, “(There are) a ton of people out there that just need help. And they’re good people. All they need is an opportunity.”