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Altaira
24th February 2015, 08:22
From time to time we all encounter a story of someone who brings joy in the world by just being nice or making other people feel better for the sake of being this way not for gaining personal benefit from it.
There is a story about a man whose creativeness made the life of a few homeless people warmer. People are not always grateful for what he is doing for them but this doesn't discourage him.

Oakland Artist Turns Trash Into Tiny Homes For California’s Homeless

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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.

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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.

lookbeyond
24th February 2015, 22:16
What a wonderful idea and gesture