For Local Allergist, One Roof is Built on a Dream and Donations
Article published in Northampton Living
(September 2023)
The 2023 One Roof Festival went off without a hitch. Despite a gloomy weather forecast, the near-capacity crowd at the Pines Theater at Look Park spent nearly 9 rain-free hours rocking out to a line-up of 90s bands, including Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Juliana Hatfield. Popular local groups Eavesdrop and The Glad Machine kicked off the benefit concert.
One Roof is a tiny nonprofit whose goal is to build tiny homes for the unsheltered, and 100 percent of ticket sales, donations and sponsorships go to the cause. When he founded the organization 3 years ago, Dr. Jonathan Bayuk envisioned holding one concert – and then building a small village.
“I’m a bit of a dreamer,” he admits. “That’s not quite how it works.”
Particularly in the middle of a pandemic. But Bayuk and Dan Prindle, who owns the Prindle School in Florence, have worked with volunteers to grow the festival each year, and to book recognizable bands who also care about the cause. This year, says Bayuk, the families who attended the festival enjoyed the event and were generous with their donations.
In July he was able to put down a deposit on a potential house through Boxabl, which prefabs homes and sets them up on location. But each house costs $50,000 – and that’s before power, water and sewer.
According to The Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness, there are 3,305 unsheltered individuals in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties – the highest number recorded in the past 5 years. The Rehousing Data Collective reported that last year there were 34,579 people experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts.
Bayuk recognizes that his dream bumps up against a sobering reality. “This is not about me,” he says. “A lot of people live out of their cars. Just filling my tank costs $70. The cost of living is out of control right now. There are people who couldn’t afford a home a few years ago, and it’s not getting any better.”
While he is mindful that some unsheltered people may not want to be placed in a home, or that it may not be safe for them to live alone, he believes in his one-home-at-a-time approach, and hopes that building a community of 8 to 10 houses could help alleviate those concerns.
The next festival will be held next summer – “same Bat-time, same Bat-channel,” Bayuk jokes – but donations and sponsorships are welcome year-round. For more information, visit www.onerooffestival.org.