Vera Struck has been a lifelong sustainability and environmental advocate.
Overcoming three bouts of cancer, and two with Lyme, she retired 20 years ago from a successful career in high finance, art, and consulting to pursue her intention of finding her piece of the American Dream, albeit tiny.
For Vera that meant an affordable, aesthetically pleasing mobile structure made in large part of recycled and up-cycled non-toxic materials. She achieved this in 2012 and took her Silver Bullet Tinyhouse 17,500 miles around the USA as a model of how to live a zero-waste sustainable lifestyle.
Two ebooks, 14 speaking circuits, and four years later she found she had become a reluctant and passionate lobbyist to legalize this often misunderstood housing product.
Ethan met Vera a decade ago when they were both invited to speak at Deek Diedrickson’s Tiny House workshop in Connecticut.
She explained that Ethan’s first pictures of his tiny house that he built in 2012 with rain screen inspired her to deep dive into everything from thermal bridging to mold mitigation for the build of her silver bullet tiny house.
When Vera takes on a project or issue you can bet she’s thorough, persistent, and resilient.
Vera has been on the podcast twice before, the last time she discussed pandemic tiny house living at the very beginning of 2020.
Today, she will help us learn about her process of becoming an active participant in democracy to legalize the very housing product she’s lived in for over a decade in Massachusetts.
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In This Episode:
- Building awareness around the tiny house lifestyle: Vera’s realization that tiny house living was misunderstood.
- Advocacy in the democratic process: Vera shares her process of becoming a lobbyist, advocating for tiny houses, and engaging with legislators.
- Forming a task force: It takes time and a diverse team to advocate for and develop tiny house building code.
- Affordable housing solutions: The important role of tiny houses as a response to the growing housing crisis.
- Sustainability and environmental advocacy: Vera’s commitment to a sustainable lifestyle through her tiny house lifestyle.
- Media engagement: Vera explains her strategy for making progress now and handling press later.
- Standards and certifications: The debate within the tiny house community and the benefits of the Massachusetts bill.
- Tiny house maintenance: How does a tiny household up a decade after going tiny? Vera discusses her silver bullet tiny house and the maintenance requirements she has encountered over the years.
Vera’s Silver Bullet Tiny House
Vera at Movable Tiny House Bill S897 Hearing
I just sent this to the Obama Foundation:
Barack Obama Foundation Wednesday, 11-29-2023
We need what I am calling The Housing Freedom Restoration Proclamation (president) or Act (congress). It simply says as long as a home is not a threat to anyone’s health or safety, then any restriction against that home is a misapplication of the police power and therefore is null and void. This would allow people to live anywhere on any size lot in any home they choose. Gerrymandering wouldn’t be such a big threat because exclusionary zoning would no longer be creating poverty, concentrating poverty and perpetuating poverty.
There is a democratic member of congress named Dean Phillips who is running for president. His campaign slogan is Make America Affordable again. His email address is info@dean24.com. Would you please send him a message and let him know how important a free and fair housing market is to you? Our country is stronger when people have a little happiness and financial security in a home of their own, no matter how modest that home is. People would be able to save more for retirement, retire sooner and live comfortably in retirement. People would be able to MOVE more easily and participate in the economy.
I know that so many immigrants coming across our southern border is NOT sustainable. But this would at least allow them to more easily get shelter for themselves. No one should be unhoused. Freedom is the bedrock principle that this country was founded on. We all have the self-evident, inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. SHELTER IS A NECESSITY OF LIFE. Corporations are paying $10K above the asking price for a home and then turning it into a rental. Rent is theft. Corporations are buying up mobile home parks and then doubling the lot rent on day one. Then the lot rent is raised 10% per year thereafter. A free and fair housing market is the best way to combat these abuses.
Thanks
James R. Herman