The Tiny House Project: Selflessness in saving lives

Selflessness is an interesting idea. We all believe we are, even when we see examples of it that outweigh our own behaviours. We all see selfish people, acts and words, and complain to companions that we would never do or say those things – we’re not selfish after all. And yet, most of us dedicate the majority of our lives to the betterment of ourselves. We embrace mantras like “looking after numero uno” and “treating ourselves”. There is nothing wrong with that – there’s no such thing as a free lunch and none of us work for free.

I bring this up to point out the paradox between the offence we might be caused when called selfish, and the degrees of separation between the people who try to be selfless when they remember, and the people who dedicate their lives to it.

Recently I was fortunate enough to speak with one of these people. Over the course of a 20-minute Zoom meeting, I had the privilege of interviewing Elvis Summers, founder of The Tiny House Project in Los Angeles. Elvis was a polite, passionate and articulate man, who conveyed not only a deep care and empathy for people less fortunate, but also a sense of urgency in trying to help. This piece will highlight what Elvis had to say on the project and his passion for helping people.

Firstly, you may be wondering what the Tiny House Project is.

The project was founded 10 years ago when Elvis noticed a woman in his Southern LA neighbourhood, who seemed to be well-liked amongst the community, named Smokey. According to Elvis, she would be seen in the area, saying hi to people and getting along well. However when night would fall, everybody would go back to their fixed abodes while Smokey would sleep in the dirt.  

“It just got under my skin. So, I decided to build her a tiny, little micro house.”

And thus, the Tiny House Project was formed. The project is run by Elvis and volunteers, and the goal is to provide shelter for veterans and the homeless in the area. 10 years later, Elvis doesn’t know the exact amount of shelters he has built for those in need, all he knows is that it’s “many, many, many dozens”.

I wanted to find out more about these shelters. I asked Elvis to paint a picture of one of these structures.

He said there were several types: “It's anywhere from emergency shelter, which pretty much consists of just a room, kind of like a glorified shed, it's got no grid electricity, running water, bathroom or anything. It's just a secure place that's insulated, that people can keep their possessions and survive. That's just the bare bones that you get. And then we also build much larger, tiny houses that have everything - kitchen, bedroom, bathroom. Those still don't have grid electricity or running water, but it’s kind of like an RV, it has all the hookups to get running water and all these things, you just have to hook it up to a connection.”

Elvis and the volunteers build shelters resembling campervans for the homeless and do it all as a result of donations from locals and fundraising. According to the founder, the shelters’ costs can range from $7,000 to $20,000 and they rely on the donations of money, materials, volunteer work and they do it all while lobbying local and federal government to continue and expand the work. It truly is a remarkable feat.

Extortionate renting costs of the local area, and the difficulty he has faced with local politicians have led Elvis to start looking for areas to relocate the business.

He said: “As far as government, and whether it's local, state or federal, I've kind of given up on even trying for that. At least here in California, these guys believe their own lies like it's a movie. It's Hollywood quality stuff, and it's not that I'm closed to working with officials, because they have all the keys to all the doors, but you just don't get anywhere with them.”

The truth is, Elvis did not expect to be doing this 10 years ago. When he built the first shelter for Smokey, he did it because the lack of care annoyed him, and he felt like he could use his skillset, resources and creativity to help someone. 10 years later, he continues to do so and has even faced challenges in keeping shelters from being seized.

Elvis told me about another one of his friends - Willie, whom he helped build a house for, but the shelter was seized by the local council. After a lengthy legal battle to regain the property and help his friend, the impact of the shelter cannot be understated for Willie, as it allowed him to get his life back on track.

Elvis said: “Flash forward, Willie is perfectly clean and sober for years now. He has his own apartment. He's actually just about to upgrade to a better apartment, and he's rekindled relationships with his family. He gets to take care of grandkids, he's living life and he feels good. And that's what the whole thing is about.”

The story is a familiar one. There are a litany of cases on this side of the Atlantic that perfectly illustrate Elvis’ point. Without access to shelter or a safe place to sleep, the propensity to find trouble or to slip into addictions is extremely prevalent. Elvis and his volunteers work show the real-life impacts of taking decisive actions on these sensitive issues.

One thing that really stuck with me after speaking to Elvis was his dedication to the Tiny House Project. He explained that he would be willing to personally relocate the business to another state to save on costs and drive the structures back to California himself. It presents an idea of the challenges faced in dealing with crises like homelessness and rough sleeping. Even the most selfless rely on the help of external actors, whether they be volunteers, public bodies or government in order to achieve results.

Even with Elvis’ extraordinary outlook and dedication, he is still looking to find a way enhance The Tiny House Project, and he does not feel that he is getting the help needed from those in power.

“I truly enjoy helping people and that's my goal and my mission. So, in order to continue doing this work and help, you know, many more people than I've been able to here, I need to move shop. So that's, that's pretty much the goals right now.”

The simplicity with which he views this dilemma perfectly illustrates his dedication and outlook. At FPH, we commend him for his existing work and we will pay attention to the work of The Tiny House Project moving forward.

To find out more, please visit: https://www.thetinyhouse.org/