Tiny House Under the Subway
Carlos lives in a tiny house under a subway tunnel in New York City. This homeless man has created his own hidden sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle in an abandoned sewer hole under the train tracks.
He has electricity and light that he implies comes from a nearby utility area (most likely it belongs to the transit authority) and he is able to store food, cook and heat his tiny home. He uses a few plastic containers for water and washing. When a friend first showed Carlos the space, he thought it was dirty but proceeded to clean it up, painted it and moved his few belongings in. Carlos has a refrigerator, a stove and toaster oven and even a small espresso maker. He is able to keep himself safe, warm and healthy in his little space.
Carlos is not alone in his lifestyle. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, 1 in 20 people in New York have experienced homelessness and the number of homeless families has doubled over the past decade. Many of these homeless are military veterans.
Since it is Memorial Day here in the U.S., take some time to remember our fallen veterans, and think of the veterans who may not have been welcomed home the way they should have been. In addition, be appreciative of any home you have, no matter what the size.
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
Quarters: Prefabricated Housing
Bowen Island seems to be an attraction for tiny houses. It’s home to the Eco-Shed by James Glave and is now home to the Quarters house by industrial designer Amanda Huynh in collaboration with Anna Gukov, Lydia Cambron and Emilie Madill. Following nearly a semester of intense research in materials, compact housing and the homelessness epidemic in Vancouver, a full-scale, timber-framed unit was built to house 1-2 residents in need of a simple shelter.
The 8 foot by 8 foot structure has a built-in sleeping loft, a readily available 5-gallon bucket wash basin, a City of Vancouver rain water barrel and modular furniture, which could be easily configured to create a second sleeping space. Because the individual unit does not provide running water or electricity to reduce cost, it would function best in a community of such dwellings with central kitchen/washroom facilities. Continue Reading »
Homemade Homeless Shelter
The New York Times has a video produced by Sean Patrick Farrell about a man in California who is using his ranch as a special homeless shelter and rehab center. The difficulties he has encountered and the laws he has chosen to ignore to make this work. Thanks Jeff for letting me know about this video.
Dan de Vaul has taken in dozens of homeless people by building ramshackle, illegal housing on his ranch in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Some see him as a good Samaritan, but others consider the ranch to be a dangerous eyesore. Watch the “Homemade Homeless Shelter video here.”
Photos from video by Sean Patrick Farrell
Ed’s Sleep Pod – Homeless Shelter?
Ed sent me this today and I thought it would make a great homeless shelter. At $50 each surely we could afford to do something like this for the homeless in America and elsewhere. I’ll let Ed tell you more about it.
I wanted to share with you my mini cabin-sleep pod I built for a recent 4 day music fest I went to. With decent tents costing up to $100, I built this for around $50.
The dimensions are 4 foot by 6.5, with a 3.5 width bunk inside with storage underneath and room for me to maneuver in. (IE, change clothes and sponge baths. Heh) Being 6 feet tall, I was quite cozy in it. Its a little heavy, but it was fairly easy for me to simply tip it and slide it into the back of my truck. I got a number of compliments. Continue Reading »
Portable Lifesaver Water Filter
Dave one of the Tiny House Blog readers has consistently sent me some great articles and I don’t always manage to fit them in. Here is one he sent recently that not only could help the world but I think could be used in a tiny house situation or help the homeless as well.
“On the outside, it looks like an ordinary sports bottle. On the inside, there’s a miracle: an extremely advanced filtration system that makes murky water filled with deadly viruses and bacteria completely clean in just seconds.”
Allison Barrie, FoxNews.com
Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it — inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. Continue Reading »
