In Toronto, a young carpenter is building ‘tiny shelters’ for the homeless. The city isn’t happy. April 23, 2021

Toronto residents have been advised to shelter in place, under restrictions that rise and fall according to the pandemic, since March 2020, when the coronavirus first reached North America. That long-term lockdown was hard enough on people with means and a roof over their heads. For people without housing, however, the idea of “sheltering in place” meant accepting a prolonged lockdown and an escalating risk of exposure to the virus in city shelters that were more overcrowded than usual in 2020.

When some of those people without housing opted to sleep outside in tents rather than accept the heightened risk at the shelters, 28-year-old carpenter Khaleel Seivwright came up with a creative solution to help them. He began designing and constructing wooden “tiny shelters”—insulated structures of 2 by 6 feet outfitted with door locks and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors—and began offering them for free to people in need.

Read the article in America: The Jesuit Review here.