If I had a billion dollars...
This is a good story when you're feeling overwhelmed and unhappy with how harsh this world can be and how difficult life can be:
Japanese billionaire hands over multimillion-dollar homes to low-income families
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2007 8:57 PM ET
Canadian Press
HONOLULU (AP) - Japanese real estate mogul Genshiro Kawamoto handed over three of his many multimillion-dollar homes in Oahu's priciest neighbourhood to homeless and low-income Native Hawaiian families on Thursday.
Tears ran down Dorie-Ann Kahele's cheeks as she accepted the key to a white columned house worth nearly US$5 million. Her family will live in the mansion rent-free.
Kahele, 39, and her five daughters had been living in one small room at a homeless shelter for the past five years.
"What we need to do is appreciate," said Kahele. "As fast as we got it, it could disappear."
Kawamoto, whose eyes started welling up when Kahele cried, said he will not charge the families anything to live in the homes. They will, however, have to pay their own utility bills.
Kawamoto plans to open eight of his 22 Kahala neighbourhood homes to needy Hawaiian families. He says they will be able to stay in the homes for up to 10 years.
The billionaire is one of Japan's richest men and owns dozens of office buildings in downtown Tokyo.
Kawamoto, who lives half of the year in Tokyo and half in Hawaii, said he was embarking on the unusual venture because it made him happy.
He added it showed more dedication to helping Hawaii's homeless than just handing out cash.
Kawamoto laughed when asked if he was concerned about losing money on the effort, saying, "This is pocket money for me."
Kahele became homeless two years ago when her landlord raised her rent from US$800 to $1,200, putting the apartment beyond reach of her salary as a customer service representative.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
from http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070322/K032215AU.html
3 Comments:
I know I'd be doing something similar if I were a billionaire. There are so many complaints of insufficient low-cost housing, well... I would buy as many apartment towers as I could and make it so that 20% of the units I own are reserved for families that meet low-cost housing requirements. If 20% did not end up being enough for the demand based on the generous criteria level I would use, I would increase to 30 or 40%.
Who knows what else I would do?
On the Gold Coast, where I am there was a very wealthy doctor here who was buying apartments by the dozen and allowing the down-an-outs to live there rent free. The other apartment owners complained bitterly that their apartments would be lowered in price because they had poor people living there. How wrong is that?
The doctor had set up some kind of trust fund to keep this charity going and wouldn't you know it but one of the trustees has ripped him off big time. And that is even more wrong!
Kawahmoto is the man. Everyone should do something like this within the realm of their own capabilities. Everyone.
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