LONG BEACH, Wash. (KOIN 6) — An idea built on four-wheels could radically change how homeless people live. A group of guys from the Northwest are building portable houses by hand and giving them away for free.
Pvgz Addams was homeless as a teenager for years. He knows wood, rather than canvas, can withstand the area’s weather and showed KOIN 6 News his plan to combat the problem.
“It’s not really hard to find someone who needs these things,” Addams said.
Last fall, the now 32-year-old started building 3-feet by 6 ½-feet wooden shelters that volunteers can finish in a week. He uses wood that costs $8 a sheet. He’d like to buy lighter material, but the cost jumps to $23 a sheet.
The shelters cost upwards of $650, but already Addams and the ‘Huts for Hope,’ a group that has filed to become a nonprofit, have given four houses to homeless men and women.
“They’ve been astounded with them, total disbelief to see how nice it is to see in it,” volunteer and construction worker Mike Rodda said. “I mean, that in itself is a gift to us.”
The group has plans to build seven more, but that doesn’t meet their small town’s goal. In Long Beach, there are dozens of homeless people. The nonprofit also fills each structure with a care package that includes a solar shower and food.
Addams’ big idea also serves his mother, who lived on the streets with him, but died too soon. “My mom passed in 2010, so it’s been riding me,” he said. “I hadn’t talked to her in a while.”
He dedicates the houses he helps build to her and Addams now works at a t-shirt designer.
The pair is trying to raise money to build more portable houses. You can find more information about how to donate here.