Our Venice friends Heidi Roberts and John
Betz are opening a newly constructed four-unit
building in South LA that they will be operating as collaborative housing
for the homeless. It will house 26 people in a shared living situation,
college dorm style, built on relatively inexpensive land. This is the type of project to which the City must shift its resources - instead of 640 square foot units that house just one person in tony Westside neighborhoods - or it will never catch up with the sheer number of homeless on our streets (and unfortunately in our neighborhoods). Right now they need donations of furnishings.
Here's their story on the subject and the current project in their own words:
Throughout the past decade, we’ve tried to create change in a variety
of ways: working within the bureaucratic homeless industry, fighting
against it, learning about best practices in other regions, kvetching
about hypocrisy and waste, collaborating with politicians to align on
clear goals, writing on social media ad nausea and even suing the CIty
over lame decisions they’ve made. Finally, we decided to stop bitching
and moaning and redirect our energy to address homelessness ourselves.
Here in our new project they’ll have a home and the stability needed
to re-group, recover and restart to ultimately lead productive,
successful lives. The non-profit homeless service SHARE! will be supporting their efforts from a
social-emotional perspective and we’ll be providing a fully furnished
and equipped home for them.
We’ve
named this project "Weller House," in honor of the awesome Chaplain
Steve Weller and his equally amazing wife and Co-Chaplain Regina Weller
of the Homeless Task Force in Venice. Steve and Regina have literally
housed hundreds - maybe even thousands - over the years and we wanted to
honor their contributions to our community. Sadly, Steve passed away
last year but Regina has been at our side throughout this process to
help plan, design and build this fantastic collaborative community.
Weller
House is almost ready to open - we’re thinking the first people will be
moving in around March 1st. In the meantime, we’re busy finalizing all
the details, turning the power on, cable installed, insurance set, etc.
We’re also furnishing Weller House - for 26 people! We’ve got beds and
linens all set and some furnishings, but can use some additional help.
IKEA has been our second home and we’ve been scouring thrift stores and
craigslist for furnishings, but we still need more. We’re hopeful that
you may have some household things you’re looking to lose! John and I
will be renting a U-Haul next week and we’re happy to swing by and fetch
any items you might be willing to part with.
Specifically, we need:
- Washers/Dryers
- Fridges
- Stoves
- Outdoor Furniture (tables and chairs)
- Art
- Shelves-bookcases
- Dining tables/chairs
- Kitchen stuff/small appliances
- Bath towels (in good condition)
- Coffee tables
- End tables
- Desks/desk chairs
- Desktop computers
We’re good on couches for now and we have specific beds/bedding being delivered in the coming weeks.
We’re
very hopeful that Weller House is the first of many collaborative
houses. Our plan is to systematize and perfect this approach so other
private investors can replicate Weller House and together we can
actually get people off the streets and into proper homes! We’re
feeling so positive about this plan that we’re purchasing a second
building that will be completed in a few months. So if you don’t have
anything to donate to Weller House next week, save it for the next
project: Chez Dre!
Thank
you in advance for anything you can throw our way and we’ll keep you
posted on our progress. In the meantime, you can learn more about the
Wellers here: https://www.homelesstaskforce.solutions
And learn about collaborative housing and SHARE! here: http://shareselfhelp.org/programs/share-collaborative-housing/
XO Heidi, John and Andreas, too
Contact Heidi at: <heidiroberts@mac.com>
