WESTLAKE : Video Promotes Dome Village Project

Residents of the Genesis I dome village have produced a 30-second animated video to promote their transitional shelter project and to inspire creative solutions to homelessness.

The village of 20 fiberglass igloo-like domes was established last year on a lot west of the Harbor Freeway between 8th and 9th streets as an experimental shelter and social service program for a trial group of 24 people.

The domes are part of a plan conceived by activist Ted Hayes and Justiceville/Homeless USA to give the homeless the support they need to find permanent housing and jobs. The project is funded through a $250,000 Arco grant.

“Birth of a Village” is the first in a series of arts projects that will bring together homeless people and artists under the sponsorship of Street Without a Name, a nonprofit corporation organized to use the arts as a forum to address homelessness. The video will be offered to TV stations as a public-service announcement and used in fund-raising projects.

With the assistance of Anim-Action, an educational program that helps teen-agers produce animated films, several Genesis I residents drew and colored the 300 frames of the film and participated in other production tasks.

Eddy Georges, a village resident, said the film, which features a sanitation crew of homeless people, has two messages: “First, everyone should make an effort to keep the city clean. Second, it’s good to have people from all different walks of life talking and working together.”