Man builds tiny home for a struggling, homeless woman – but that was just the beginning
Irene “Smokie” McGee had been living on the streets of Los Angeles for 10 years in 2015 when her story went viral.
Forced out of her home when she could no longer keep up with the payments after her husband died of lung cancer in 2004, McGee spent a decade without even so much as a makeshift roof over her head.
The 60-year-old woman was well-known in the LA neighborhood where she spent her time and residents would often say hello or give her recyclables to cash in for some change.
That’s how she met 38-year-old Elvis Summers.
When the two struck up a real conversation one day, Summers found out McGee had no shelter at all to protect her from the elements.
“I started asking more questions about her to see what her story was,” he told ABC News in 2015. “I learned she didn’t have anything, not even a cardboard box. She was literally sleeping in the dirt and I just wanted to make her a place where she could feel comfortable and at least get a good night’s sleep.”
Most of us can’t possibly imagine sleeping in the dirt – and Summers couldn’t bear the thought. So he decided to help her right away.
He asked her if he could build her a “tiny house.” Nothing elaborate – no running water or luxury amenities, just a roof and four walls and a place to keep her things.
“I saw online that people were building these tiny homes. I had done construction before, so figured that’s easy – I could do that,” Summers said.
$500 and 5 days later, he had assembled the small structure.
McGee’s new house had a door with a dead-bolt lock, screened windows, a wood awning for shade, and a slanted roof to let the rain run off. She was ecstatic.
The city agreed to let her stay in as long as it was relocated every 72 hours (so Summers made sure it was portable).
Of course, not all neighbors were happy about having the home on their street, even though it was moved around.
After a few months, she was forced to move it to an area she wasn’t keen on living in because she feared local gang members.
Homelessness affects every aspect of a person’s life and simply putting a roof over someone’s head isn’t always enough to give them back their lives. While McGee’s home spawned a nation-wide movement that’s still headed by Summers, his first recipient died of a heroin overdose in 2016.
According to one neighbor, she died under a bridge on Skid Row, miles away from the tiny home.
There will always be sad stories amidst good deeds – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep up the effort to help people. Homelessness requires comprehensive intervention, and Summers continues to provide part of that. (No one person can do it all.)
Shortly after his first tiny home was built, Summers raised money to start an organization called Starting Human in 2015. That turned into the non-profit charity The Tiny House Project, which he still runs today and which includes not only tiny homes, but mobile showers, and community gardens as well.
The houses are now a bit bigger and more elaborate and Summers has acquired land where the homes can sit without having to be moved.
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While McGee is no longer around to see what she helped start, her memory lives on in Summers’ effort to bring dignity to LA’s homeless population.
To see footage of Summer and McGee from the happy days shortly after her house was built, be sure to scroll down below.
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Source: Elvis Summers via Facebook, The Tiny House Project, ABC News, Mashable