Small steps, when combined with a little bit of hope, can go a long way; Mike Cohoon is a walking demonstration of how effective that strategy is. A pastor for Landmark Christian Church in Lake Hallie, Cohoon is a leader involved with the development of Hope Village, a project to create a small community of tiny homes where people who are homeless in the Chippewa Valley can live while they get back on their feet.

“We took this one little baby step at a time,” said Cohoon, who started the project in 2014 after the last homeless shelter in Chippewa County shut down. It started with a community forum, and with the help of volunteers, fundraising, and philanthropy, they have built nine houses, and are working on yet another. Eventually, Hope Village will consist of 12 tiny houses — each with a sleeping area, refrigerator, and microwave — as well as a community space with showers, laundry facilities, kitchen space, meeting rooms, and more.

But Cohoon isn’t waiting for the project to be completed to extend a helping hand. The organization is using the finished tiny homes to offer a transitional housing program, complete with a human support system of mentors and friends.

The program helps reconnect people with their health resources, with employment, with a permanent home, and with their loved ones. Sometimes, Cohoon even gets to see someone who was homeless move their things into a new apartment — a tangible measure of success.

“I know that I’ve made a difference in someone’s life when I can see that they feel less stressed, when they feel happier, when they feel like they have a little bit of time and energy left over to do good for someone else,” he said.

Cohoon and the volunteers he works with often have to build a tiny home without a blueprint. Each little residence is constructed on a trailer foundation, and each trailer that is donated to the cause is different.

Discovering the right way to use his resources to address the needs of others is Cohoon’s strong suit. He gathers groups of difference-makers and pushes them to try to achieve things they might not have believed themselves able to, forging strong teams who come up with creative ways to overcome any obstacle.

“I see things that can be done and I feel that if I have the ability and I have been blessed, and I can gather a group of other people who feel the same way and we can do something, we should simply do it,” Cohoon said.

Through his ministry and his volunteerism, Cohoon hopes to share the blessings he has been given with others, providing shelter, stability, and guidance to the people he works with.

“The healthier our community can become, the healthier our families can become, the healthier our school system and educational system becomes,” Cohoon said. “The healthier we can become as a community, the better for everyone.”