Khaleel Seivwright

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Khaleel Seivwright is a Canadian carpenter and homelessness activist known for his construction of homeless shelters.

Contents

Early life

Sievwright grew up in suburban Toronto; his parents are Jamaican immigrants. [1] After high school, he took a job as an apprentice carpenter, and learned how to frame houses. [1] In his early 20s, he lived on a British Columbia commune where he built his own tiny home shelter. [1]

Toronto homeless shelters

In September 2020, [2] Sievwright began building homeless shelters and placing them in parks and ravines in Toronto. [3] [4] The small shelters cost about $1,000 CAD to build. [5] [6] The shelters included insulation, a Vapor barrier, a carbon monoxide detector and a lock. [7]

In November 2020, the City of Toronto wrote to Sievwright, demanding that he "immediately cease the production, distribution, supply and installation" of the shelters. [5] [8] A petition started by Sievwright in response to the City's letter garnered over 80,000 signatures. [7]

In January 2021, Sievwright launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $200,000 CAD to construct more of the shelters. [9] [10]

In February 2021, the City filed an injunction to stop the construction of the shelters, which take the form of very small tiny homes. [5] [10] Critics of Seivwright's shelters, including the City of Toronto, have said that the homes do not represent a long-term solution to homelessness. [11]

As of April 2021, Sievwright had built over 100 of the shelters, with a crew of 40 volunteers. [1]

Sievwright was the subject of the 2023 documentary Someone Lives Here . [12] The film won Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival. [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Porter, Catherine (16 April 2021). "The Carpenter Who Built Tiny Homes for Toronto's Homeless". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Toronto carpenter builds $1,300 tiny shelters for homeless". youtube.com. Good Morning America.
  3. ↑ "Toronto carpenter builds tiny wooden shelters for those experiencing homelessness". CTVNews. 29 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Carpenter urges Toronto to drop injunction over his tiny shelters, arguing legal costs would be better spent on housing the homeless". thestar.com. 22 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Gibson, Victoria (19 February 2021). "City of Toronto files injunction to stop carpenter from erecting wooden shelters for homeless". thestar.com.
  6. ↑ "Project to build tiny homes for Toronto's homeless under threat". Broadview Magazine. 20 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 Cecco, Leyland (28 February 2021). "Why Toronto is taking action against a carpenter amid its homelessness crisis". the Guardian.
  8. ↑ King, Angelina; Draaisma, Muriel. "City issues warning letter to Toronto carpenter building shelters for unhoused people | CBC News". CBC.
  9. ↑ Longwell, Karen. "Toronto's tiny shelter fundraiser hits $200K goal but city still doesn't want them". www.blogto.com.
  10. 1 2 Casey, Liam. "Toronto seeks injunction to stop man from putting tiny shelters for the homeless in city parks | CBC News". cbc.ca.
  11. ↑ Urback, Robyn. "Opinion: Toronto's crackdown on tiny shelters is not as callous as it seems". theglobeandmail.com.
  12. ↑ Vega, Manuela (2023-07-19). "Tiny shelter carpenter Khaleel Seivwright at centre of Hot Docs' 'Someone Lives Here'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  13. ↑ "VIFF announces award winners". The Georgia Straight. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
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