Liberator in Action: Elvis Summers

In 2015, when Elvis Summers lived in South Los Angeles, he passed by the same homeless woman almost every day. 

Irene "Smokie” McGhee slept on a patch of dirt near his apartment. Like many unhoused people, she had become nearly invisible to the world around her. But Summers knew her.

He'd stop and talk with her. He knew she was someone's daughter, someone's friend, a person with a story. The more he got to know her, the harder it became to accept that she was sleeping outside every night.

So, using his own money and contractor skills, he built her a tiny house. It wasn't much bigger than a garden shed. It had a door that locked, a window, and a roof. When Smokie saw it, she hung a small "Home Sweet Home" sign inside.

For many people, a locked door is an ordinary thing. For Smokie, it meant safety. It meant being able to sleep without worrying about who might come along in the middle of the night. Summers later shared that after moving in, she slept for more than a day.

When people saw what he had done, donations started arriving. Volunteers offered help. Before long, Summers was building more tiny homes for other unhoused residents of Los Angeles.

His idea spread far beyond one neighborhood.

Over the years, cities and organizations across the country began creating tiny-home communities for people experiencing homelessness. Today, similar villages can be found in states including California, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, and others. Each community is different, but they all rest on the same belief that people need to feel safe and have a chance to start over.

Not every housing expert agrees that tiny homes are the answer to homelessness. The problem is bigger and more complicated than any single solution. But that's not really the story of Elvis Summers.

Elvis became a liberator when his conscience moved him to action. Until his first tiny home was completed, he, too, struggled to sleep at night, knowing a good woman was on the street without shelter or protection. 

Liberators are everywhere. Their goodness brightens the world. They remind us of our power to do good with limited skill and resources. Collectively, they are the angels among us. If you know someone who’s a liberator, tell us their story here.