Lisa Kolvites was tired of crying during her drive home.
Ever since her friend, Steve Strackbein, became homeless a few years ago, Kolvites has been driving weekly from her home in San Mateo to San Francisco to check up on him and bring him some food.
On the drive home, Kolvites cries.
"I go to visit him and all he has, everything he owns, is in a shopping cart and it's just a bunch of junk. I can't imagine living like that. I just can't," Kolvites said.
The 46-year-old Strackbein normally spends the night in a temporary shelter he constructs for himself out of cardboard, scraps of wood, and a tarp.
Kolvites says she wanted nothing more than to help Strackbein find a home.
So she decided to give him one. Once she built it, that is.
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In November, Kolvites began construction a tiny home on wheels in the driveway of her San Mateo home. Having very little experience in construction the work went slowly, Kolvites often learning how to do things through trial and error. As frustrated as she got, though, there was no thought of giving up. "I'm committed to seeing this through," said Kolvites.
This week, Kolvites did just that.
After working on the home for ten months, Kolivtes wheeled the home onto a trailer and drove it to San Francisco to give to Strackbein.
The four walls and a locking door will, hopefully, give Strackbein a bit of security and privacy he has not had for years. The wheels mean he can move it, and all his belongings, from place to place if police or property owners say he has overstayed his welcome.
"I'm speechless," Strackbein said after sitting in his new home for the first time. "It's going to take a while to sink in."
Kolvites says the home ended up meaning as much to her as she believes it will Strackbein.
"I just hope someone would do the same for me," Kolvites said.
