Artist Transforms Trash Into Tiny Homes For The Homeless

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Artist Transforms Trash Into Tiny Homes For The Homeless

Gregory Kloehn, a California-based artist has been addressing the lack of shelter for the homeless in his hometown of Oakland, by building a series of customized, tiny homes for displaced individuals.

All the tiny homes are made from salvaged materials that he can find on the streets and each unit costs around $40

RT reports:The tiny homes are made of pallets, bed boards, washing machine doors, and other bizarre objects that catch Greg Kloehn’s attention. Mr Kloehn first noticed that homeless people built shelters from whatever they find in the street, and he wanted to make a house like this.

He jokes that he constructs “illegal homes out of illegal garbage.” The cost of one house is “$30 to $40,” Kloehn told RT.

“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 said.

The houses are just comfortable enough to lie down in a warmer place than a cardboard box, and the homeless in Oakland are “so happy,” Kloehn told the Independent. “One cried and got on his knees to thank me. They think I should make them bigger and suggest improvements. They like to decorate them themselves.”

Currently, about 25 people use the homes. One couple’s home burned down, another one was stolen, and a third was sold.

“It is tough out there. So I keep making more,” Kloehn said. It takes about a week to finish a house, depending on the style.

“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 told RT.

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