Gaz the Clown lives in a Conestoga Hut and needs a new place to park

A London, Ont. man who has been living in a Conestoga Hut for one year believes it is the perfect way to transition from homelessness.

While he hopes to build a small community of these small, temporary sleeping shelters, he first needs to find a new place to park his own hut.

“It’s based off the old pioneer wagon designs, and it comes apart into five pieces,” explained Gary Turner. “There’s no running water. I do have a battery powered shower. I do have a composting toilet, and I have a solar panel. So I do have everything I need to be completely off grid and self-sustaining.”

Turner, who is sometimes known as ‘Gaz the Clown’ when he acts as a mascot at various events, said the hut cost $5,500, which he raised through online crowd funding. For the past year, he has been living in the parking lot at the back of the Ark Aid Mission on Dundas Street in London in a trial arrangement. Now the year is up, and he’s looking for a new place to park.

“I just don’t have anywhere to go yet. It’s kind of crunch time for me so I’m incredibly desperate,” he said.

He’s not just thinking about his own accommodations this time. Turner said he wants to build a small community of Conestoga Huts. He’s hoping to find financial support through private donations to acquire three or four more of the units. He also needs someone to donate property to locate the huts.

“We would have three or four huts that we could use, and with our community partners we would set up people to come in, and learn different things to help them get back on track,” said Turner.