Man Builds Micro-Shelters For The Homeless

A Utah man is giving the homeless a new temporary alternative to living on the streets by building micro-shelters.

According to the Huffington Post, Gary Pickering has developed several portable ‘micro-houses‘ to help Utah’s homeless survive harsh conditions such as winter weather.

KSL Utah reported that Pickering plans on donating some of these low-cost “survival Pods” to a Utah county homelessness charity.

Pickering state that at one time in his life, after a divorce, he was homeless. He also stated that he became sympathetic to those he met who also had nowhere else to go.

“I lived in my shop for about three years, so I was basically homeless. I had four homeless people living outside my shop. It was 1988 which was a bad winter but they lived in my van all through the winter.”

It wasn’t until 2009 that he really started to ask himself what he could do to help those that need it.

It was at that point that Pickering started to build small, portable micro-shelters that could be used by people who were seeking shelter out on the street.

These micro-shelters are very small, but enough to shelter someone from bad weather. And when someone has nothing, Pickering believes that having something can help.

“I believe that a person needs the dignity of something that they can call there own, even if it’s only this, it’s theirs.”

The KSL Utah report continued on to say that Pickering knows this idea isn’t for everyone who is homeless, but for people trying to get back on there feet, then it could be a place to at least start.

“If people can find jobs of course they will move on, they will get a house back and their cars, but until then, this will help.”

Pickering has said that he isn’t looking to make this into a business, but instead he wants to inspire others.

What do you think of Gary Picerking’s micro-shelters for the homeless?

[Image via KSL Utah]