Article Image

IPFS News Link • Housing

L.A. is seizing tiny homes from the homeless

• http://www.latimes.com, By Gale Holland

Elvis Summers, who built and donated the structures, removed seven of the gaily painted wooden houses — which come with solar-powered lights and American flags — on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of a scheduled city sweep.

Summers, an L.A. resident who says he was once homeless, had placed them within encampments on overpasses along the 110 Freeway, for homeless people to use instead of tents.

But three structures impounded earlier this month remain in a city storage lot, a Bureau of Sanitation spokeswoman said, and the city notified occupants they would be "discarded."

"These people are beaten down so hard, you give them any opportunity to be normal, it lifts them up," Summers said.

Councilman Curren Price, who represents the neighborhood, said the houses pose serious health and safety risks.

"I'm getting complaints from constituents who have to walk in to the streets to avoid them," Price said.

Authorities destroyed needles, drug setups and a gun seized from one or more of the houses and tents during an earlier cleanup.


thelibertyadvisor.com/declare