In 1995 I went through a divorce that caused me to hit a very low point in my life. My finances forced me to live in a van as I continued to work to support my Ex-wife and kids. But it resulted in a very odd thing, after I got over the initial shock of hitting such a low point; I soon started to like living in the van. Much more than that, I soon began to love living in a van. I loved the freedom and financial independence it gave me. For the first time in my life, I was happy and at peace.
In 2005 I started a website named cheaprvliving.com to tell as many others as I possibly could that they, too, could find happiness living in a van. In 2008 with the financial collapse, I was inundated with people who had lost their jobs and now were losing their homes and they desperately needed an alternative and cheap way to live outside of a house. I am so grateful that I was there at the right time and right place to be able to help so many people not just have a roof over their heads, but have a quality of life that was better than any that they had ever had before.
In 2015 I started to make videos on YouTube to tell as many people as I could that there was hope for them, that there was a light at the end of what was becoming a very dark and long tunnel of a life of just barely surviving from paycheck to paycheck with no hope for a better future. Many people responded to my message and my YouTube channel has grown and reached many people. Sadly though, while the rich have gotten far richer in the last 10 years, most middle-class Americans are worse off. Today, 1/3 of Americans don’t have a penny of savings, and I fear the next recession will make 2008 look like good times. I want to be there for those folks when it happens, but I want to be able to do more than I was able to do in 2008.
To that end I began working with my friend, Suanne Carlson, to create this Non-Profit: Homes On Wheels Alliance. Our goal is to create an infrastructure of support to be ready to help as a tremendous number of Americans are forced to choose between living in their vehicle or living on the street. With your help, we believe we can do that while offering them a high quality of life and dignity. Won’t you join our Alliance of commitment to doing good and offering hope and help to those in need of it?
