Khaleel Seivwright

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

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 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 January 2021, Sievwright launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $200,000 CAD to construct more of the shelters.[8][9]

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

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][10] A petition started by Sievwright in response to the City's letter garnered over 80,000 signatures.[7]

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][9] Critics of Seivright's shelters, including the City of Toronto, have said that the homes do not represent a long-term solution to homelessness.[11]

References
  1. Porter, Catherine (16 April 2021). "The Carpenter Who Built Tiny Homes for Toronto's Homeless". The New York Times.
  2. "Toronto carpenter builds $1,000 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. 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. Cecco, Leyland (28 February 2021). "Why Toronto is taking action against a carpenter amid its homelessness crisis". the Guardian.
  8. Longwell, Karen. "Toronto's tiny shelter fundraiser hits $200K goal but city still doesn't want them". www.blogto.com.
  9. Casey, Liam. "Toronto seeks injunction to stop man from putting tiny shelters for the homeless in city parks | CBC News". cbc.ca.
  10. King, Angelina; Draaisma, Muriel. "City issues warning letter to Toronto carpenter building shelters for unhoused people | CBC News". CBC.
  11. Urback, Robyn. "Opinion: Toronto's crackdown on tiny shelters is not as callous as it seems". theglobeandmail.com.
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