Man Builds Homeless Woman A Tiny Home Because ‘Everyone Should Have A Right To Shelter’

[Mika]

Man Builds Homeless Woman A Tiny Home Because ‘Everyone Should Have A Right To Shelter’ (VIDEO)

Los Angeles resident Elvis Summers had formed a friendship with Smokie, a 60-year-old homeless woman, after she began regularly coming to his door asking if he had any recyclables she could take off his hands. He was heartbroken to find that she had been sleeping in dirt just down the street from where he lived. Inspired by an article about a man in Oakland who had been making small houses from discarded material, Summers set out to end Smokie’s decade-long streak of homelessness.

Delaying payment on a few of his own bills to buy $500 worth of supplies, he got to work and five days later Smokie finally had a place to call her own. Here’s a video of Summers building Smokie’s home, and the emotional moment she laid eyes her new home.

Rest of article and pictures --> here.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. He's a prince... without a doubt. But.....

... what kind of a gov't can't provide a 60 year old homeless woman w. a goddamn one room trailer. You know... 8x10?

[Mika]

2. A bigoted and corrupt one. n/t

[ColesCountyDem]

3. "...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

" ‘... For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ " Matthew 25: 35-40

[freshwest]

4. +1. That quote is often used by advocates I know. n/t

[freshwest]

5. Reminiscent of Thoreau's idea, which I have considered often:

...I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night; and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night, and hook down the lid, and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free.

This did not appear the worst, nor by any means a despicable alternative. You could sit up as late as you pleased, and, whenever you got up, go abroad without any landlord or house-lord dogging you for rent. Many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this...

The major problem now is zoning and those who don't want to see these alternatives because they bespeak of poverty. As if the impoverished are of no interest to other human beings who are doing better economically. This planet will not be healed until we stop treating life as a commodity.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

~ Mother Teresa

[mmonk]

6. Recommended.

[Duppers]

7. The link goes to a 522 Error for me, but...

Many sites have the video and story now. The one I like best is People Magazine's:

"I know you told me you lived down the street, but I mean where exactly do you sleep?"

That's the question Elvis Summers asked his new friend Smokie. Summers and Irene "Smokie" McGhee had struck up a casual friendship as McGhee, 60, stopped by his apartment most mornings to collect recyclables and chat.

"I figured she at the very least had a cardboard box, a tarp, or something, but she had none of that," Summers, 37 tells PEOPLE. "She was like, 'Well, I don't have anything I just sleep next to the building.' "

Much more at link:

http://www.people.com/article/los-angeles-man-builds-tiny-house-homeless-woman


Touching story, Mika. Thanks for posting.