Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Rolling homeless shelter

Inspired by mass produced City trash cans
  (+12)(+12)
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I was driving the other day and was going under an overpass where i usually see 1-2 people asking for change from cars and I noticed one of those large 70 gallon size city trash cans that every house has and thought "ya know thats almost big enough for a shelter in an emergency" so i thought if these are mass produced from plastic for about $50 or so and they were made just 2 feet taller, you would have a rolling shelter. tack on a $2 solar cell led light combo like the ones for walkways and a $2 fan from wallmart and youve got a little home. you could aslo add a $5 heat tape like coil inside the unit like a blanket and if there is an outlet near you can stay warm in the winter.

********update*********

the bins could have sign space for rent so that they could have something like "subway! eat fresh" on the side and once a day they can go to a subway for a half sandwich

****second update****

the doors would be like the safety catch on walk in freezers where you can undo the latch from inside if the outside gets locked, plus you could have 10 of them in a circle and they snap together and they can flip the lids up and flip out a triangular wedge that snaps to the others in the center thus making a small plastic dome, then u put a tarp over it and you've got a community room!

also as an added cost reducer the homeless people can work at local shops that manufacture them and put in 8 hours working the presses and get to see their own unit in the making!

Arcanus, Dec 22 2009


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Annotation:







       tell me different but this is better than a cardboard box.
po, Dec 22 2009
  

       So a plastic hand-drawn caravan based around a wheelie bin?   

       Such a mass-produced item would effectively have "exploit me" stamped all over it, whether someone was wheeling it or sleeping in it. Also a sleeper could probably be sealed inside one and easily moved, along with his new home at the whim of the sealer ...   

       However this is an apparently original idea - a capsule hotel broken up into individual, two- wheeled units.
Aristotle, Dec 22 2009
  

       // sealed inside one and easily moved //   

       <Detective Robert Thorn>   

       Soylent Green is people !   

       </Detective Robert Thorn>
8th of 7, Dec 22 2009
  

       //With a little modification//   

       sp. "punctuation"   

       Good idea though.
DrWorm, Dec 22 2009
  

       /would effectively have "exploit me" stamped all over it/   

       It would say that until subway purchased rights to advertise in that space.
bungston, Dec 22 2009
  

       [+] for homeless shelter of any kind, but wouldn't the traditional sandwich-boards be cheaper? and you could wear it.
FlyingToaster, Dec 23 2009
  

       I would rather see city wide cubbyholes, as a solid societal infrastructure, that can referenced the bottomline and be occasionally used by late night party goers.
wjt, Dec 23 2009
  

       Dual purpose then. Locks show the wrong way for a society to advance.
wjt, Dec 23 2009
  

       My I shamelessly promote my own "Wheeluggage" idea by suggesting that it provides a sort of rolling add-on storage shed for these shelters?
swimswim, Dec 23 2009
  

       You may, but no-one will like you for it.
8th of 7, Dec 23 2009
  

       If you make them too immobile then they become lockable bollards, too mobile and they become "exploitable people in plastic on wheels".   

       Beside anything too valuable would be stolen from a homeless person or possibly sold to meet a seemingly (or genuinely) important short-term goal.   

       I'd recommend adding stealth (so they can hide their sleeping units) and two exits so if someone blocks the first the second means of egress can be exercised.
Aristotle, Dec 23 2009
  


 

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