And just when I was certain that I'd heard and seen just about everything related to poverty and homelessness in the U. S., along comes University of Michigan student Stephen Mills.HUVs for our homeless (as in "homeless utility vehicles")?
Hmmm.
Maybe Mills is just facing some hard facts about how difficult it is for communities to find the will to put an end to homelessness.
The photos are worth at least a thousand words. This snippet should whet your appetite for the whole report:
U-M grad's art project aims to help the homeless
Michael H. Hodges / The Detroit News
As final-year art projects go, Stephen Mills' was a little unusual. Most every art-and-design senior at the University of Michigan was pulling together a thesis that involved a painting, a statue or something more conventionally artistic.
Mills?
He designed and built a shelter on wheels for homeless people.
Read more here.
Then, tell me what you think.
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I think it would be great to have these in production. Just like a soup kitchen isn't a long term solution for an individual or a family's food needs, so this wouldn't be a long term solution for housing. But in emergent cases or temporary situations I could see how these would be of benefit.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely choose the HUV over a park bench or underpass.
Very clever. Useful, and makes a point. If we wouldn't really want these as our solution to homelessness, maybe we should be working more diligently toward something better. Like CDM is!
ReplyDeletecopy & paste this link: http://www.leftinalabama.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=24ACF21479532715EAD5A253C63D859D?diaryId=2433
ReplyDeleteI think it's great..anytime someone is helping others and compassionate towards others who are less fortunate..my hat is off..
ReplyDeleteTonight after singing the old hymn Rescue the Perishing this morning..I saw a group going through the abandoned buildings looking for homeless to get them out of the city..Isn't that wonderful..I think the name of the organization was Caring for the Homeless??? Do you have any information about this group (I may be wrong about the name)..It just reminded me of what it meant to sing that song and of the parable of the 99.
This is, perhaps, one of the most relevant and useful ideas anyone has come up with that would actually help homeless people to mitigate the unforgiving environment in which they live. True, it's chief impact exists in the short term, however, to many homeless, the short term is the reality of their situation...measured between the mile markers of frequent hunger and various tiers of desperation. A short term fix? You bet. And a good one at that.
ReplyDeletethis is indeed a unique concept...can't wait to be working with these guys. We have a nonprofit I think you'll be interested in called Home Free Organization. Home Free Organization is a non-profit initiative to eradicate homelessness in urban environments through the provision of free wireless internet, social networking and resource allotment. We take donated bread trucks which have come off route and add donated computers and hardware to create mobile wireless access hubs for homeless individuals to utilize for finding family, jobs, resources and ways off the street.
ReplyDeletemore on our blog: http://homefreeorg.blogspot.com
Please spread the word!