The tiny houses will be stationed around the area at various retail and professional buildings for the month of November, which is National Homelessness Awareness Month.

A donation of around $200 worth of material from Alpena Glass covered the plexiglass fronts of the houses.

In 2007, Congress passed its first resolution recognizing November as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month to bring awareness to the issue of youth homelessness, including its causes and potential solutions, and work toward preventing homelessness among children and teens.

“Each year, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness in the United States — 700,000 of which are unaccompanied minors–meaning they are not part of a family or accompanied by a parent or guardian,” according the the National Conference of State Legislators. “These estimates indicate that approximately one in 10 adults ages 18 to 25, and one in 30 youth ages 13 to 17 will experience homelessness each year.”

Courtesy Photo Here is a completed tiny house donation bank made by CTE students at Alpena High School. Donations will benefit Sunrise Mission in Alpena.

Sunrise Mission in Alpena expects to exceed 7,000 bed nights in 2024, and almost one-third of those seeking services at the mission are children, a number higher than ever before.

“Many of our families with children and general guests have lived in the woods, in tents or abandoned buildings, and garages,” said Sunrise Mission Director Michelle Bailey.

She added that lack of affordable housing is the biggest contributor to that problem.

AHS CTE Woodworking teacher Zach Grulke said the project helps students learn valuable skills while connecting with the community.

“We used the donation box project to teach students safety at the beginning of the year,” Grulke said. “Students were able to use the compound miter saw (cross cut and miter cut, table saw to rip cut and make dados), drill press, sanders and air nailers while building this project.”

Courtesy Photo Alpena High School CTE students paint the tiny houses after building them for a project to benefit Sunrise Mission during Homelessness Awareness Month.

He said the project fit right into the curriculum.

“This is something that they would do anyway in the beginning of the year to show understanding of tools and proper use,” Grulke said. “This year, by doing this project, students were able to have a finished project at the end of it, which would be going to a good cause.”

Grulke had assistance in supervising the students.

“My paraprofessional, Ray Reynolds, was involved throughout the entire process, designing the first couple of prototypes with advanced students, and then setting up jigs and blocks for students to use on the machines to make sure there was consistency in the work being done,” Grulke said.

He was happy to have his students participate in the project.

Courtesy Photo AHS CTE student John Brege uses a drill to work on one of the over 100 tiny houses the class built as a project to benefit Sunrise Mission in Alpena.

“Being able to have students help in the woodworking CTE class, gain necessary skills and provide a product that would be helping our community and region was a great win for everyone involved,” Grulke said.

The students painted and signed each house they built.

All donations will support Sunrise Mission.

“Sunrise Mission offers short term shelter, case management, and food,” the mission’s website states. “As we meet immediate needs, we also work to help our guests regain personal independence and become proud and productive members of our community.”

Serving an eight county area, Sunrise Mission has a very big task. It offers 85-day short-term help with the goal of giving people a chance to recover and become self-sufficient. Sunrise Mission is fully donor funded. Fundraising is ongoing and critical to meet the needs of the residents. The mission serves area residents and does not bring in people from around the state or outside of the state. There is a strong vetting process involving interviews and background checks. To donate to Sunrise Mission, see the “donate now” button at sunrisemission.com.

Courtesy Photo AHS CTE students work on assembling and painting the tiny houses to benefit Sunrise Mission in Alpena.

“The mission is always needing to raise funds,” said Phil Cook, who sits on the Sunrise Mission Board of Directors and also teaches at the high school. “This was a good opportunity because November has been declared Homelessness Awareness Month.”

Courtesy Photo AHS CTE students assemble and paint the tiny houses, which will include the student’s name who made it.

Courtesy Photo AHS CTE students Jayden Kaiser, Ethan Bradbury, and Camden McEwen get ready to start assembling the tiny houses.

Courtesy Photo Dave Bauer of Alpena Glass holds up a completed tiny house donation bank. Alpena Glass provided the plexiglass for the front of the tiny houses.

Courtesy Photo CTE Paraprofessional Ray Reynolds, above right, talks to Jayden Kaiser during CTE class at Alpena High School.

Courtesy Photo CTE instructor Zach Grulke shows Rain Sobeck the steps in making the tiny houses to be used for donations to Sunrise Mission in Alpena.

Courtesy Photo Alpena High School CTE students show the progress they have made on their tiny houses.

Courtesy Photo Alpena HIgh School CTE students work on their tiny houses during class.