Six years ago, I auctioned off
my tiny house in San Diego, California,
to raise funds to help to build
a community for people experiencing homelessness.
I am so excited to say
that I am here today at this community
that is nearly complete.
Thanks to the hard work
of Amikas, the Meridian Baptist Church,
and the city of El Cajon.
There are six sleeping cabins behind me.
I am excited to show you one of them,
as well as the garden,
and introduce you to a little bit of the team.
So come on in.
The purpose of these units
is to provide housing for women
and their children
who are experiencing homelessness.
You walk in here and you can feel
the sense of peace that you have.
Having your own space to heal
and to have time to yourself.
You can really feel it inside here.
It is truly beautiful.
So the units are 12 by 12.
They are not really big,
but they provide the basic needs.
Inside is 8 by 12,
and then the outside is 4 by 12.
Each of the cabins has a porch.
What you will notice about the porch
is that they are all facing in
towards the center.
The idea of that is to create
a sense of community
that brings people together.
Towards the back,
there is a garden that is being built right now
to be able to grow some of their own food
and to be able to heal with the beauty of nature.
So I want to introduce you
to some of the people who really
have made this all possible
over the last six years of hard work.
And I am really excited to say
that this is going to be fully complete,
it is looking like this summer.
Hey everyone!
Hey Rob!
Good to see you.
Hi there. I am Lisa Cogan with Amikas.
Hi. I am Roland Slade,
the pastor here at Meridian Baptist Church,
and a board member with Amikas.
Chris Scott involved in the program
for building these houses.
One of the most important concepts
in these emergency sleeping cabins
is this door with that lock.
Having privacy, a quiet and safe place
to rest one's head
is the first step in getting one's life
back on track.
With the shortage of housing
and places for people to stay,
they are living unsheltered.
It is time for us to be creative.
This is a creative venture
on the property here
at Meridian Baptist Church.
I would like to go inside
and show you a little bit
about the construction system.
You see how there is a groove on each side.
The material that we take out of there
means that we do not have to go
into the forest again
to pick up curtains for Amazon,
and wood for IKEA furniture.
And it makes everything go together.
This is much stronger.
It has got more insulation
than the conventional house by about 5%.
That is probably close
to $100 a year, every year, forever.
That means there is less fuel
going into all of these houses.
You notice how quiet
and cool it is compared to the outside.
It is very useful for volunteers
because it is much easier
for them to put something together.
If you notice,
there is no machinery here at all.
Basically you are just using
an electric screwdriver.
So it is just a very different approach.
These cabins are safe and secure,
unlike people living on the street
where if they were to leave,
to go to a medical appointment
or try to find a job
their things will be stolen or thrown away.
Now, people can lock the door.
They can go to the much needed
doctor's appointments.
They can meet with their case managers.
They can go out looking for jobs.
It is going to change people's lives.
Feeling safe and secure is the first step.
One of the beautiful things about this
is there is a community
that is within a community.
It is, yes, here on the church property
and we are building community here.
They are also going to have support
of the community that is our congregation.
And then again,
extending out to the greater community
around us in the city.
As the saying, "it takes a village."
and this village is really going to be...
is being birthed out of the efforts
of all of us together to make a difference
in the lives of people.
It is so exciting and hopeful
to see this coming together
with six years of hard work.
And I am so excited for the months ahead
for people to start moving in
and for this community to be
a place of healing and happiness
and community ahead.
Thank you all for the hard work
you have been putting in.
Rob Greenfield Films