Hero Spotlight: Elvis Summers — The Tiny House Project

An Unconventional Hero

I met Elvis Summers when Force For Good founder Jonathan Sprout and I showed up to film him building tiny-home shelters in Los Angeles. Under a sunny, blue sky, Summers’ tiny houses sprouted like colorful flowers among the weeds in the side lot where he was working. In varying stages of completion, these tiny homes represent Summers’ big dreams:

“While we wait for affordable housing to materialize, and better (government) systems that aren’t failed to come into play, we as a society can come together collectively and say that we’re not going to let human beings suffer and die in the streets while we wait for change to happen. We can create cheap and effective emergency shelter for those who are houseless to have a safe and warm place to sleep now, tonight, and until a more permanent option becomes available,” he says.

To many, Summers may look like an unconventional hero. It turns out that his spiky hairstyle and tough-guy appearance provide some security when he visits the rougher parts of town, like Skid Row. But when Summers, CEO of the nonprofit The Tiny House Project, starts speaking, it’s clear that no camouflage can hide his compassion for humanity, enthusiasm to help and desire for positive change.

The first micro home he built was for an unhoused neighbor named Smokie. “She was 62 years old, wonderful, kind, everyone liked her and said hello to her, but she was sleeping face first in the dirt next to a house every night, and nobody seemed to care about it. Over the few months as I got to know her, I got more frustrated that there was no place for her to go. I finally asked her if she would mind if I built her a little tiny house, to which she replied: ‘When’s it gonna be ready?!’” When Summers started building it in the street next to his apartment, “other houseless people started asking if I could build them a house too, as they also had no place to go.” A successful YouTube video and GoFundMe page followed, along with his realization that, with the resources, he could help many more people. One man he built a temporary tiny home for, Kevin, told Summers, “That key…that key that you gave me to open that door…It reminded me what I was worth.”

Treating people with dignity and respect is the cornerstone to Summers’ vision that, along with a lock and key, includes the tiny-house shelters in a village setting. The homes provide privacy and safety. Bathroom and kitchen services are shared by the community. Social Services and other agencies would provide support and guidance toward more permanent housing. “In the short term, I’d like to expand and acquire warehouse space and vacant lots and begin building multiple Tiny House Communities ASAP,” Summers says.

Summers is featured in Homeless, FFG’s short film set to the composition “Homeless” on the group’s second CD, Innocence. As Force For Good founder Sprout notes, “On any given night in the United States a half a million people are homeless.” The appalling number seems inconceivable in a resource-rich country such as ours, and yet we may soon experience exponential homelessness due to COVID-19-related unemployment and evictions. And worse. “On average, four houseless people die every day here in Los Angeles (not including COVID-19 deaths), so there is no time to lose. The sooner the better,” Summers says.

You can meet Elvis Summers online on February 21 at Force For Good’s Community Conversation and Film Screening of Homeless. Register [HERE].

Contact Elvis Summers [HERE]. Visit thetinyhouse.org for more info.

For additional resources, visit FFG’s Resources page [HERE].

—Hillary Black, Editor