BRADENTON, Fla. — A 66-year-old homeless man is living in a portable shelter that a middle school student invented for a science fair project, according to an advocate for Facing Homelessness Bradenton.
- 12-year-old Madisyn Scheid created "a home on the go"
- Portable shelter has a mattress, light, cooler, and radio inside
- School donated prototype to Facing Homelessness Bradenton
“He was extremely excited to get the cart,” said homeless advocate Laura Licoski. “She wanted to make sure that the person that owns the cart can lock the door. Which I think was huge.”
The Rowlett Middle Academy student, Madisyn Scheid, 12, said they were tasked with thinking of a problem in the community and make something that can help it. Her invention was “a home on the go.”
“It’s a portable homeless shelter, and so it’s little and easy to move around,” said Madisyn. “I’m very excited that someone’s actually living in my invention.”
The portable shelter has a mattress, light, cooler and radio inside. On the outside, there’s a basket for collecting cans on the handle bars and wheels on the bottom.
Madisyn’s mom, Jeni Scheid, 34, said they built a prototype, but the principal wanted to put it to use.
“When the principal asked if we could actually donate it to a homeless person, of course, we wanted to,” she said. “I’m just really super proud — we thought it was a great idea for the invention.”
Licoski said because there are no shelters for the homeless in Bradenton, the portable home is a welcome sight.
“You’re talking about a huge homeless population. Hundreds of people with nowhere to live,” she said. “So, this is a step in the right direction, and it is mobile and until we can come up with something else, at least they have some sort of shelter.”
Licoski said she’s enhancing the portable homeless shelter to make it more waterproof, but wants to keep most of Madisyn’s original design.