BY KEVIN SAWYER… As if it weren’t hard enough being homeless, now the unfortunate of Los Angeles now have to deal with politicians who seek to destroy what simple security many homeless people have. Recently, Los Angeles city councilor Curren Price demanded that the Los Angeles sanitation department immediately begin taking away these tiny houses built for the homeless and destroying them.
The politicians, especially Price, are saying that there are safety concerns over the tiny houses and the sanitation department has been regularly stealing these homes from their owners and destroying them. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office stated that the tiny homes were a hazard and that it was putting these homeless owners lives in danger. Apparently, Los Angeles politicians are compelled to force people to live the way that they see fit. At first, the politicians required tribute in the form of permits but have since just gone ahead and outlawed them in some counties and ordered them destroyed. Their lives, it seems, are not in danger from having to live on the streets in the elements and constantly being victimized by crime but for actually having a safe roof over their heads.
Elvis Summers
Tiny House for the Homeless was a venture that was begun by Elvis Summers of Los Angeles. He began the business after wanting to help an elderly and homeless neighbor who had always just slept in the dirt. He built him the tiny shelter which immediately brought his neighbor a sense of dignity and security. Last year he had started the non-profit, hustles donations and has built 37 houses so far. He has been given hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations since April and he looks to build and deploy as many tiny houses as he can to try and shelter the homeless in a safe environment.
The houses are about the size of a parking space and come with a securely locked door as well as lights and windows. Many in the community have been banding together to keep building and supplying these tiny houses to the homeless in defiance of the government decrees as well as the liberal sensibilities and capriciousness of the politicians. There are still people in California who have a sense of dignity and wish to extend that to those who have fallen on hard times.
PHOTO CREDITS: Waking Times / Tiny Houses for the Homeless