Connecticut Couple Opens Backyard Village for Homeless

For 30 years, Mark and Luz Colville have welcomed homeless neighbors into their New Haven home for hot meals and friendship. But when the city began dismantling tent cities in 2022, the couple knew they needed to do more.

The tent city removals weren't just displacing people. Workers threw everything into dumpsters, including birth certificates, IDs, family photos, and irreplaceable keepsakes from loved ones.

Mark and Luz opened their backyard immediately. What started as temporary camping space transformed into something bigger when their community rallied to help build tiny homes on the property.

Volunteers constructed small houses to replace tents. Medical staff began weekly visits. Residents elected their own leader. The Rosette Neighborhood Village became a lifeline for people who had nowhere else to turn.

"It made me think that there are people that care, and don't look at a homeless person like, 'Oh that's one of them people, or there's the scum of society,'" resident Beau told documentary filmmaker Erik K. Swanson through tears.

But the village faced an unexpected challenge. Luz had envisioned the space as temporary shelter while residents found jobs and permanent housing. Instead, some people stayed for more than two years, and the backyard remained full with no room for newcomers who desperately needed help.

The situation strained the couple's decades-long marriage. They had to make a difficult choice between their current residents and their broader mission.

Why This Inspires

After giving residents several months' notice and extensions, the Colvilles reset their village. Today, only two new residents live there while Mark and Luz develop a better system that helps more people transition to permanent homes.

The couple isn't giving up on their backyard community. They're simply pausing new admissions until they create a structure that serves both current residents and future neighbors in need.

For three decades, the Colvilles have chosen compassion over convenience. Their willingness to adapt their approach shows that real solutions require both heart and strategy.

Their backyard village proved that ordinary people can make extraordinary differences when they open their doors to neighbors in crisis.