Greg Kloehn is an artist who is trying to help the homeless by building small houses out of illegally dumped trash that piles up on the streets. He uses pallets, bed boards, washing machine doors, and other bizarre objects to construct homes out of garbage that cost $30 to $40. Kloehn, though, gives them away for free to the homeless people near his home in Oakland, California.
The 43-year-old only has to buy nails, screws and glue for the colourful constructions. “The real cost is just in the wheels: I buy large casters for the bottom, so that they are mobile, and then nails, and screws, and paintbrushes. But everything else I get for free,” he told RT. Kloehn’s little homeless homes are about the size of a sofa, come with a pitched roof to keep out the rain and wheels so users move around town.
Kloehn “got on a housing kick” after building his five-unit live-work condominium complex from scratch. Inspired by the small home environmental movement, he started making fully functioning houses out of shipping containers before moving on to dumpsters. “Then I just started grabbing garbage and making homes out of that,” he said.
“The people who get them are so happy! One cried and got on his knees to thank me. I think it is extremely important to help these people out as they keep getting moved by the city and need to relocate every few weeks. This way, as the dumpsters are on wheels, they can be pushed around really easily,” Kloehn told Daily Mail.
“Tiny houses strike a number of cords in our society as they aren’t just homes, but fast becoming a life style option. They are, usually, cheaper than regular homes, giving more people the opportunity of ownership. Small spaces mean it’s easier to power an entire house with the sun or wind, and water can be collected and used over and again with simple catch and filtration systems. Even black waste can be turned into methane and/or composite for food production,” he explained.
Sadly some have been stolen, burned or even sold but most of the owners, 25 at present, are still living in them. “It is tough out there. So I keep making more. There are some quick, easy homes in maybe two or three days. But some more elaborate ones, some more Victorian-style ones, some different dome shapes – it takes a little bit longer,” he said.
“By skipping the traditional 30 years mortgage, perhaps the tiny home movement could even reshape the way we think about work and what we want to accomplish with our lives,” he added.
Kloehn chooses funny names for the homes: R2D2, The Settler, Romanian Farm House, Uni-bomber Shack, the Tank and The Chuck Wagon to name a few.
Source:
http://rt.com/usa/234371-tiny-houses-california-poor/
So love this! The homeless are people too regardless of the reasons they’re homeless. Been there and done that. It’s not fun at all! We need to do more to help them. These tiny homes are so fantastic! To just have some sort of shelter over your head is a miracle many don’t realize till they have lost it. Too many take it for granted.
I so love the tiny house movement this man is creating. I love the tiny house movement on any level. I am working on getting one for myself. As a professional organizer myself I can’t stress enough the importance of downsizing and getting rid of junk in our lives we just don’t need! I actually make a living teaching people how to live with less and be happy. It is so freeing! But to use the tiny homes to help the homeless is a most satisfying thing for the human soul.
I agree This is amazing and wonderful. It makes use of things that have been discarded and committed it to the good of mankind. I believe this will catch on and will help so many people . I bet people will start donating different spaces or areas. There are other things that I have seen made into ho mes like box cars . This is great.
Hey does anyone know how I can get in contact with Greg? I live in Korea and the wheels that he uses are extremely cheap, I’d like to donate some to him. Please give him my email address attached above.
It’s kinda funny that Americans wanna put houseless ppl in caravans, considering Europeans have been burning caravans for centuries now. It’s like putting a roof over someone’s head without helping lift the social stigma of not having an address.
Basically this project falls short of recognizing that there are more vacant housing units in America than there are houseless people. The real truth here is that there’s no housing shortage in America, just housing deprivation. This project feeds into the illusion of scarcity in housing by offering up literal garbage bins for people to put their bodies in.
I believe the issue is economics and affordability, not availability.
I’s something until we can do something else. Yes there are empty houses but until they can be fixed or gotten people need something. This is something. It could jump start something much bigger.
It’s kinda funny that Americans wanna put houseless ppl in caravans, considering Europeans have been burning caravans for centuries now. It’s like putting a roof over someone’s head without helping lift the social stigma of not having an address.
Basically this project falls short of recognizing that there are more vacant housing units in America than there are houseless people. The real truth here is that there’s no housing shortage in America, just housing deprivation. This project feeds into the illusion of scarcity in housing by offering up literal garbage bins for people to put their bodies in.
My husband and I would like to get in contact with Greg. We could easily build these small “houses” for the homeless, but thought he might be able to tell us how he decided where and how to distribute them?