YT "A 60-year-old homeless woman named Smokie has been sleeping outside in the dirt a few doors down from a man named Elvis Summers.
Most mornings, she stops by Elvis’s Los Angeles apartment and asks if he has any recyclables for her. Through these conversation, they struck up a friendship.
One morning, Elvis saw a news article about a man in Oakland who has been making tiny houses out of discarded material. He was inspired to put off paying a few bills so he could buy the lumber and hardware to make Smokie a brand new shelter. It took him five days to build, and now, for the first time in ten years, Smokie has a place to hang the sign, ‘Home Sweet Home.’
“I had nowhere to really build it, so I just built it in the street outside of my apartment,” he told Good News Network. “The local LAPD cops have been super cool, and have told me they support it–as long as we move it to a different spot every 72 hours.”
He made this nifty time-lapse video showing how he did it. The materials, including two locks on the front door and sturdy wheels for moving it around, cost him about $500."
7 Comments
blackfox42Follow up news story here
eric3579*promote
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spawnflaggerGood for him. I like the half-door idea.
I just hope some A-holes don't come along and move her house around then she can't find it. Or worse to move it real fast while she's in it.
EMPIREsays...I know it's not the best solution for homelessness, but damn it... this type of thing should be done a lot. The guy spent 500 dollars and the rest was donated. I doubt it cost 1000 in total. Imagine if it was sold as a kit ready to assemble. Even if it had a small solar panel and battery inside, and a closet to store stuff, it could be done pretty cheaply, and all cities have empty lots where these could be placed. With just a few dozens of thousands of dollars, you could give lots of people a shelter, and a constant in their life. And if city halls actually made the plot of land where they were built, nice and tidy, with green areas and public lighting, it could even be a nice looking spot.
MagicpantsIt's kind of sad that the homeless in America can't even live in a shanty town, or under a bridge (they put spikes under bridges). I'd much rather my taxes went to putting a roof over their heads then say the f-35 or the new stealth bomber. Maybe they could live on the Koch Brothers yacht... you know the one trimmed with dinosaur bones.
casonsays..."Better known as 'Smokey'"... LOL!
But in all seriousness, really cool of him, and cool of the city not to give her much shit about it. (yet)
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