Pioneer in Housing for the Homeless

MY IMPACT

Gabrielle Clowdus, Ph.D., is an architect, and a thought leader in affordable housing and homelessness. She is the Founder of Settled, an organization that builds tiny home communities on under-utilized church land. Gabrielle sees a future where entire communities model healthy relationships, purposeful work, and meaningful abundance, cultivating places where everyone has value, is celebrated, and functions according to their gifts to benefit the whole.

MY JOURNEY

For her Ph.D., Gabrielle studied chronic homelessness in America. Prior to pursuing this topic for her Ph.D., all her work was internationally based humanitarian work. However, through her Ph.D., she realized a strong passion to serve her local community in the United States. Through her research, she uncovered that the number one reason why more American cities do not build affordable housing is the “not in my background” mentality of many Americans not wanting low-income, historically disadvantaged neighbors.

Fortunately, through her research, she discovered an impactful policy called the Religious Land Use Act, which permits faith communities to use their land in conjunction with their mission. Therefore, she started talking with officials, and petitioning to change zoning laws to align with this legislation. Through much persistence, she and her dedicated team partnered with faith communities to design and build tiny homes of approximately $35,000 each across several cities.

She said that if she could step back 10 years, she would pull off all the pressure and approach this social impact initiative with more confidence, trust and faith. She shared that Jeffrey Tanner and Matthew Smith, co-founders of Hildegard College, are especially inspiring to her right now. Hildegard is an alternative institution of higher learning that equips young people with the wisdom and entrepreneurial formation needed to lead the next generation of culture-creating organizations.