Man Builds Tiny House For Homeless Grandma Sleeping In The Dirt

Published on November 20, 2015 by

Daily News: “A kindhearted Los Angeles man has become an Internet star after he built a miniature house for a homeless woman who slept in a patch of dirt on his block.

Elvis Summers became acquainted with the 60-year-old vagrant known only as Smokie after she regularly passed by his apartment to go through his recycling.

He wished he could do something to help her out, reports The Good News Network.

Summers then heard about an Oakland, Calif., man who builds small homes out of discarded materials. Inspired, he decided to give it a go.

He spent $500 on supplies and constructed the tiny property on the street in front of his own home in just five days.

Smokie, who’s been living on the streets for more than a decade, was then handed the keys to her new dwelling, which is on wheels so it can be easily moved around.

Summers filmed the entire building process and uploaded a timelapse video to YouTube on April 23. It’s since been seen more than 1.7 million times.

Despite the home not having any permits, Summers said that local cops had been “super cool.”

“They have told me they support it — as long as we move it to a different spot every 72 hours,” he said.

After his story went viral, Summers said he’d been contacted by numerous people asking for him to build similar abodes. He’s now set up a GoFundMe page to do exactly that.

“This ‘Welcome Home: A Tiny House, Huge Purpose’ project is to build tiny houses for homeless Women, Men, Children, US Veterans and Families,” he wrote on the page.

“Human Beings, not ‘bums or trash’ who need a little humanity, a little help to get off the streets,” he added.

About $10,000 of the $50,000 target has been raised.”