ideas we love :: EDAR / everybody deserves a roof

I came across this website and thought this is exactly the kind of work that people need to know about and get involved with sooner than later. There’s a lot we all take for granted, myself included -  a hot shower, a clean bed and food that doesn’t come from a garbage can. We have to remember we are all humans first, and not “the homeless man” or “the subway beggar”. We have to take care of each other, after all we’re all we’ve got….

For more info on EDAR: http://www.edar.org/

About EDAR

EDAR (Everyone Deserves A Roof) is a 501(c)(3) charity that provides unique mobile shelters to those living on the streets all around us. Each EDAR is a four-wheeled mobile unit which carries belongings and facilitates recycling during the day and which unfolds into a special, framed tent-like sleeping enclosure with a bed at night.

Mission

While respecting permanent and temporary housing for the homeless in group settings which use buildings to provide shelter, EDAR addresses the unrepresented hundreds of thousands of homeless people amongst us for whom no beds are available or who are unable or unwilling to participate in those solutions.

Who We Serve

The EDAR units are currently being implemented in three ways:

1. EDAR works with current philanthropic, governmental and religious initiatives who currently work to house the homeless in temporary and permanent housing programs. EDAR units are being used as a “first step” into the homeless shelters for those that are typically reluctant to enter a traditional shelter system. The shelter creates a relationship with the homeless person who is using the EDAR unit and with time, the homeless person will often transition into the shelter’s program.
2. The EDAR units are being used as additional beds in shelters where there is a lack of portable cots for the homeless each night. EDAR users are mobile with the EDAR units during the day, and are allowed to enter the shelter grounds and sleep in a designated area. This provides the shelter extra sleeping units and gives the homeless person much more privacy than the traditional cot on which they might sleep.
3. The EDAR units are also given to homeless clients directly, those who are in need of a more comfortable place to sleep that protects them from the elements, for those who cannot or will not go to a shelter.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 3:20 AM and is filed under FWL BLOG and tagged with assistance, bed, caring, EDAR, everybody deserves a roof, help, homeless, ideas, Ideas We Love, los angeles, love, shelter, soup kitchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.