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Miss Cellania
EDAR: Everyone Deserves A Roof
by Miss Cellania - December 15, 2008 - 7:40 AM
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What is the best way to help the homeless? Finding them a home and the means to keep it, of course, but the reasons people are on the streets are varied, and the most hardcore cases defy any formula for help. Cash is gone in no time, and possessions are difficult to keep without a place to keep them. Shelters are overcrowded, underfunded, and often dangerous. Many homeless people prefer to sleep on the streets.

250EDAR.jpgPeter Samuelson, who produced Revenge of the Nerds and founded the Starlight Foundation, wrestled with this problem. He wanted to produce a single-person shelter that would work for the people who needed it most. Eric Lindeman and Jason Zasa won a contest Samuelson sponsored with their portable tent shelter design, which was tested and tweaked by  shopping cart manufacturer. The finished product is called called EDAR, an acronym for Everyone Deserves A Roof. EDAR is a four-wheeled device that resembles a shopping cart. During the day, it’s a covered storage cart for possessions. At night it folds out into a military-grade tent on a platform. EDAR units are both flame retardant and waterproof, and can be locked. EDAR units, which cost a bit under $500, are given to those who can make the best use of them. Homeless shelters have ordered multiple units to use inside or to give to those who are “shelter-resistant”. People who have them say they are quite comfortable, and make a hard life somewhat easier to deal with.

Not everyone thinks giving camping equipment to the homeless is a great idea. Samuelson responded to the idea that an EDAR encourages homelessness.

“Why is the EDAR not regressive?” he said. “Because it is not nearly as good as a shelter bed. There’s no pretense it’s as good as permanent or temporary brick-and-mortar housing.” But it is, he says, “infinitely better than a damp cardboard box.”

If you think this gadget is a worthwhile cause, you can sponsor an EDAR, or part of one. You can also volunteer your time for the program.

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Comments (4)

  1. With the economy tanking like it is, we are going to be seeing even more homeless on the streets. Families, even. While far from an ideal solution, at least it does give the homeless a feeling of ‘a place of their own’. A place to keep their little bit of ’stuff’.

    posted by Vickey on 12-15-2008 at 8:38 am

  2. Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for people with no place to live when they can obviously afford to smoke (not cheap) and wear jewelry (as it were).

    I guess I’m just jaded. My mom and I saw a lady sitting on an on-ramp in the rain one day, and we felt bad for her. We went home and got some prepackaged food and a coat and an umbrella and took it back up to her. She looked in the bag and took only what food would fit in her pockets and then threw the coat and umbrella back at us and said (with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth) “I don’t need that sh*t…if I have a coat, people won’t give me money.”‘

    People make their own problems. Yes, we need to help them, but we also need to teach them how to get out of their situation.

    I’m a single mother of two who barely keeps her head above the water, but I work hard, and I don’t make the government and other people take care of problems that I caused myself. I certainly think there is better use for $500 than a portable shelter for one person. How many sleeping bags and regular tents can you get for that price???

    posted by Heather Dawn on 12-15-2008 at 4:35 pm

  3. Heather Dawn, as a person who’s barely keeping her head above water, I’d think you’d be a little more sympathetic. How many missed paychecks are you from homelessness, or living with relatives? Do you have three months living expenses saved up? And in today’s economy you aren’t worried about losing your job? I’ve got a decent job (52k) and I’m nearly unfirable, but even I worry…

    posted by Vickey on 12-16-2008 at 1:23 pm

  4. I just had this email conversation with my sister, the EDAR is a good idea, we both would rather subsist in a non urban setting for safety sake, but thats the rub, much of the most obvious homelessness is associated with mentally ill individuals, no, a cool mobile tent wont help that, its a rational answer but an immediate one, and at $500 bucks per, a definitely
    goverment targeted one.

    posted by Jon on 8-15-2009 at 8:29 am

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