Posted by Nat Two | May 10, 2014
I’ve Seen People Turn Garbage Into Some Cool Stuff. But THIS…. Is Absolutely Amazing
Introducing: Gregory Kloehn
Gregory Kloehn has taken dumpster diving to an another level. He turns the trash he finds into livable works of art, this kind hearted artist has changed the lives of many homeless people in California. His work is truly brilliant. Kloehn decided that he could use his artistic and construction skills to help the homeless people of Oakland. He searches the streets selecting recycled and reclaimed materials for his tiny mobile homes. His works are made out of whatever he finds, they are roughly the size of a sofa, the frames are generally made from cargo pallets, the roof is slanted so the rain rolls off, the doors can be anything from a garden gate to a refrigerator door, the windows are quirky some are even laundry machine doors. Each home is on wheels so they can moved around if needed, each home is totally unique. He uses what he collects to build small, one room shelters for the homeless.
His homelessness project is getting a lot of attention.
Not only from the media, but from the people he helps as well.
The “little homeless homes” are about the size of the sofa.
But, something that small can mean the world to someone living on the streets.
Each of the homes are built with a pitched roof, so rain will run off of them.
They also have wheels, so their owners will be able to wheel them around if they need to.
The foundation he usually uses are discarded wooden pallets.
At first, as an artist, he made sculptures.
But peddling his creations got old.
Since he focused on housing, Gregory knows what he creates is being used.
A homeless woman he knows well, Wonder, raves about what he does.
The small shelter Gregory built for her was the best house she’s had in 5 years.
He published a book titled “Homeless Architecture.”
His focus seems to be on helping them build homes…
Even when they don’t have a conventional “house” to work with.
At first he was just building tiny homes to sell.
One day, a homeless man came by his studio asking for a tarp.
All Gregory had was a tiny wooden frame he was working on, equipped with a built-in kitchen, water tank and a small trap for human waste.
He then realized… it was a home that this man could use.
Someone could use it and it would change their life.
He can’t build houses for all of Oakland’s homeless.
He doesn’t intend to stop building any time soon.
He is interested in starting classes, teaching others how to make them. “A lot of people who hear about what I’m doing want to get involved,” he said. “Maybe we meet someplace and put a couple homes together.”
Kloehn has enlisted the help of volunteers and also invited the youth from a local high school to help build his creations. The community is coming together to help build small homes for the homeless, by doing this they are completely changing the way they live and possible changing people’s lives forever. Do you have a high rate of homeless people in your town, could you set up your own initiative with your friends and family? Is this something you would like to be part of… to donate to his cause, get advice on how to start up or help out, make sure you check out his website.
Source: homelesshomesproject.org, gregorykloehn.com