Tiny Houses for the Homeless: Video Goes Viral
Elvis Summers, 38, is California’s most inspirational Good Samaritan who has gone viral asking people to #SharetheGood.
It all started when Summers struck up a friendship with a homeless woman named Irene 'Smokie' McGee. She made herself known by asking for his recyclables to cash in. Summers took a liking to Irene and decided to build a small mobile home for the 60 year old widow and grandmother who has been homeless since 2004. Irene first began sleeping on the streets when her husband died and she couldn't afford a place to live without his income.
source: youtube.com |
Summers filmed himself building the home and included the grand unveiling to Irene. He then uploaded the video on YouTube.
The short film went live on April the 23rd and within less than a couple of weeks it had reached over 5 million hits. Meanwhile, the hashtag that was set up in the video: “#SharetheGood” began popping up all over Twitter.
Summers calls his construction a “Tiny Home” which is exactly what it is. To us, it looks like a miniature shed on wheels. But to someone like Irene, it has prevented her from living out her days cold and homeless.
If you’re worrying about the legality of having a small, box-like car on the roads of LA, the local Police Department have given consent for the shelter to stay but it must be moved to a different spot every 72 hours. Which is a relief, because there would be nothing more heart breaking that seeing Irene part with her new home already.
So far the video and hashtag have helped raise a grand total of £33,000 worth of donations. Summers says he wants to use the money to build more tiny homes for other homeless people around the area. Meanwhile, his inspirational act will continue to travel round the world, moving more and more people.
This is yet another heart-warming example of some of the amazing things that Social Media can do.
Tiny Houses for the Homeless: Video Goes Viral
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Rating: