Video: An Island of Hope in an Ocean of Indifference: California's Slab City is the last refuge for the homeless
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In the southeastern state of California, in the Colorado desert, there is a small settlement where today about 2 thousand people live. The residents themselves call this place the City of Concrete Slabs (Slab City), since concrete slabs and columns are all that remains of the military camp of the Second World War, which was located in this territory. Today this city is a real haven for all who do not have normal housing.
Initially, after the closure of the military base, only servicemen remained here, but gradually completely different people began to come here. Most winters in the City of Concrete Slabs, and in the spring they go to live in cooler areas, since the summer heat is simply unbearable. However, about 150 people live here permanently, mostly poor pensioners.
The City of Concrete Slabs has its own laws, here there are truly Spartan living conditions: there is no running water or electricity, and old trailers serve as houses. People are forced to adapt, many use generators and solar panels to generate electricity. These devices can be purchased in the state of Nyland, which is located about 5 km from the city.
The city's trademark is Salvation Mountain, which is no higher than a three-story building. It is decorated with acrylics and painted with lines from the Bible. It took one of the local residents more than twenty years to create this project.
Considering the conditions in which the poor are forced to live, the realization comes that these people accept life as it is, without embellishment, they find joy not in comfort and luxury, but in true friendship and love. Creative people are often not indifferent to the problem of homeless people. Thus, homeless men living in the backyards of Paris and other French cities have become the main characters of the Musee Urbain project by French street artists from the Artisme association.
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