Bullitt County high school students building tiny house for victims of human trafficking

Dec 18, 2023

The house will serve as a model for transitional living.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students with Bullitt County Schools worked together to build a tiny house, and they plan to pay it forward to victims of human trafficking.

The students, who came from all different career pathways, were set loose this school year to create a tiny home. They partnered with Refuge for Women, an organization that helps women break free of human trafficking.

The house will serve as a model for transitional living, "a space of their own where they're learning to be more independent but still in community with others that have experienced the same thing," said Melissa Wallace, development director for Refuge for Women.

GE Appliances worked with the school district for the project, in which students solved problems like how to make room to do laundry in a tiny home.

"We wanted to design a tiny house with disability inclusion, energy, sustainability and food sustainability in mind," said Michael Ekbundit, director of engineering projects at GE Appliances.

Students say it feels good that the home they made with their own hands was made to help these women.

"Helping them out after they've gone through such a horrible ordeal is satisfying," said Luna Asbell, a sophomore in BCPS. "It's fulfilling."

The home will serve as a model, but there are plans to recreate it for future uses in the community.

"It feels a lot better than engineering something for no purpose," said Avery Wasinger, a freshman in BCPS. "It really gives you more of a drive to do it, because you're doing something that will have an impact on people."

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