…the packing box, that is. Well, not a packing box exactly but rather a shipping crate.  It’s been suggested that perhaps metal shipping containers could be converted to housing for the homeless.  Critics will say that’s inadequate and demeaning, but isn’t it better than sleeping in a doorway or on a park bench or under a bridge?  Ask Rev. Al Tysick’s Dandelion people!  We all wish everyone could have clean, bright, modern housing…but it ain’t gonna happen in the foreseeable future…so let’s see what we CAN do!

Converted shipping crates could be made dry, warm, safe and comfortable.  They could be arranged in pods for sleeping/living accommodation with perhaps a communal kitchen and bathroom. That would solve the question of expensive wiring and plumbing for each container. Surely someone can find an appropriate piece of land, even if just temporary. These “pod villages” would be easily portable so long as necessary amenities were always nearby. Administration would be an issue perhaps, but if we all got “inside the box”, we’d find a way.  Perhaps the city of Victoria might even magnanimously waive their parking requirements!

The homeless already have their piece of real estate…the streets and sidewalks.  Let’s help them find something a bit better!

Lois D.