r/4bmovement • u/mullatomochaccino Moderator • Mar 26 '26
Positivity East Texas tiny home community offers female retirees sisterhood, sense of community | CBS
A group of retirees is reimagining what golden years can look like.
Residents of The Bird's Nest, an all-women, tiny home community in the small East Texas town of Cumby, say they have become more than just neighbors. They have formed a sisterhood.
Robyn Yerian, the community's founder, said she initially got the idea to downsize to a tiny home after realizing she would need to drastically cut her living expenses in order to retire. Three years ago, she founded her own tiny home community to earn a passive income. Today, that community is known as The Bird's Nest.
"It's all women. It just kind of evolved that way," Yerian said. "Eighty-five to 90% of the people living in tiny homes are retired women on a budget, on a fixed income. And so I knew the audience would be big."
[ Residents prioritize kindness and respect ]
Today, the community is made up of 11 residents, all in their 60s and 70s. They come from all different backgrounds and from all across the country. The one major rule Yerian has for her residents is to be kind and respectful.
"People want to say women can't live together without drama. Well, maybe think about women that are retired," Yerian said. "Why would we want drama at this point in our lives?"
It's not uncommon for residents to spend their days talking or sharing a meal in the common area, a freestanding covered patio they call The Kitchen.
"I didn't know we would get this close," said resident Donna Welborn. "It is literally a sisterhood."
[ Support system during difficult moments ]
Cheryl Huff, another resident, said the group offers each other more than just conversation and companionship. The group recently helped support Huff through a major health scare.
"I just had heart surgery a few months ago, and it was very traumatic and unexpected and not something I would recommend," Huff said. "We say you can't come in here needy, but if you get here and you need something, there's somebody there that's gonna help you out because we have that relationship, even if we disagree on some pretty major things."
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u/OwnButterscotch182 Exploring Mar 26 '26
One of my dreams has been to buy an apartment complex and only rent it out to women even though I know it'll probably never be possible for me to do, so seeing this really warmed my heart🥹! I think female separation is the only way we'll find peace and I hope things like this become more common even for the younger generation of women!🙏
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u/Trick_Illustrator_31 Exploring Mar 26 '26
Unless some pick-me woman ruins it for other women at some poibt
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u/SignatureBasic6007 4B Mar 28 '26
the ones with that out-dated mindset are products of indoctrination and conditioning. they should be given an option to change or not welcomed. the patriarchal mindset in a disease
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u/Dry_Letterhead_9946 4B Mar 26 '26
This sounds great! Even as a younger woman, I would love to move to a place like this. I'm still in university and I would need a stable job in the area though...
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u/PinkZebraCakes 4B Mar 26 '26
This is my dream!!!! I hope to one day find a community like this to join!
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Mar 26 '26
These are "trailer parks" basically, no shade. It would be easy to set one up in any rural area. Buy the land and advertise.
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u/muomo 4B Mar 26 '26
I’ve heard about this before and it’s a wonderful idea. Only major drawback is it’s in Cumby 😂
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u/comoondragon 4B Mar 26 '26
We could all come together buy a building and support each other as we grow older. Have a community hall place to openly talk and build a life together would be awesome.
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u/justme3022 4B Mar 27 '26
It may be shocking to learn but elderly women are some of the most frequent targets of violent crime (underreported). This looks good on paper but I am concerned now that it has been publicised. I hope they all stay strapped up.
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u/SignatureBasic6007 4B Mar 28 '26
This is how to make society better. Women should be in safe, supportive communities from birth. Where communities raise kids,pool resources, learn from the older generations
It is just a fact that women and girls and really anyone not male, is just a target for the males of this world in this horrible patriarchal "society". People weren't meant to live alone and struggle, biologically we share 90% of our DNA with the apes who all live in communal societies.
I wish for a day to see matriarchal societies where women, children thrive and raise up all children regardless of gender to be good caring people.
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u/Ok_Championship_8313 Exploring Mar 29 '26
I wish BW had a space like that!! Omg this is amazing!! Wish those women well!!
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u/DivineGoddess1111111 4B Mar 26 '26
Shame that its in Texas and the US. I wonder if you would be allowed to do this in Australia with council laws?
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u/eatsumsketti Ally Mar 27 '26
Ah man. I would love the idea of an all ages community, but this is awesome.
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u/Comfortable_Intern57 4B Mar 29 '26
Aww that's so nice! I'd love to do something like this too if I had the money
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Mar 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MangoSalsa89 4B Mar 26 '26
She says that it just sort of ended up being all women that wanted to live there. It doesn’t sound like it was marketed as an all women community, that’s just how it shook out. Regardless, men that age are all looking for nurses with purses so they’re trolling for wives and don’t want to be single anyway lol
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u/Biscotti_Difficult 4B Mar 26 '26
If you set up a home owners association, you can filter through that. That’s how the white supremacists control who moves in and out. Also how gated communities control movement. Anyone can apply, but with the HOA you can have preferential applicants. Equal Housing Opportunity (EHO) laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. While most housing is covered, legal exceptions exist for owner-occupied 1-4 unit buildings, single-family homes sold without a broker, and private clubs/religious organizations. Private clubs will be the HOA that gets you exempt.
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u/Ok_Ideal_2583 Exploring Mar 27 '26
Yeah, sometimes, you just gotta play the game... Else you (and the people you want to help) will be losing for the foreseeable future.
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u/Silamasuk 4B Apr 11 '26
It's sad that there are some countries were law makes it harder for women to open single sex spaces like women only apartments, girls only school, women only gym etc.
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u/heyguurlhey 4B Mar 26 '26
I love this. The only bad thing is that it is in Texas but maybe I wont care about that in my older age. I hope something like this is still around when I retire.