LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Brenda Gardenhire shows off her new home with pride. It looks like an oversized shopping cart covered with a khaki canvas. But to her, it's "wonderful" -- a stepping stone to get her off the streets and get her life back in order.



Brenda Gardenhire was homeless over the last year, until she got her EDAR unit.



"It's like your own home, your own apartment, your own room," she said, showing off the 7-foot-long living space on wheels. "No one else can come in here but me."



Gardenhire is talking about her makeshift home called an EDAR, which stands for Everyone Deserves A Roof. The units are being distributed to homeless people in the Los Angeles area by the Everyone Deserves A Roof nonprofit organization.



It's the brainchild of "Revenge of the Nerds" movie producer Peter Samuelson, who has spent much of his life working with charities to help impoverished children.



He got the idea to help the homeless in recent years as he rode his bicycle from Los Angeles to the beach at Santa Monica.  Watch a canvas-covered 'home' for the homeless »



On those bike rides, he began seeing more and more homeless people. But he didn't just whiz by. He stopped to talk with them -- 62 people in all. One by one, he listened to their needs and what they wanted most: a roof over their heads. And the idea for the EDAR was born. iReport.com: Homeless in pink tents



"If you had to define the value of a civilization, it's not how many SUVs you've got," Samuelson said. "To me, I think it's how well do we take care of our children, our homeless people, our mentally ill, those less fortunate."



He partnered with the Pasadena Art Center College of Design for a design contest and the current contraption was created. Each unit costs about $500 to make.



The four-wheeled home has an expandable base that stays off the ground and is covered by a canvas, giving it the feel of a tent. It extends 86 inches and is 32 inches wide, thin enough to fit through standard doorways. Each unit has a mattress and sleeping bag to provide comfort. It's also flame-retardant and sturdy enough to keep its occupants dry during heavy rains. A braking mechanism prevents the unit from rolling away at night. They also come with a chain and padlock to prevent it from being stolen.



Samuelson said he initially wanted to build more permanent shelters for all of the homeless people in the Los Angeles area. "But when you do the math, you're looking at $3 billion to get 60,000 people off the damp concrete, and that's just in L.A.," he said, explaining why he opted for the cheaper EDAR instead of permanent shelters.



He said the EDAR isn't a perfect solution, but it's a good, economical stopgap. "This is $500 to get a man or a woman or a child off the damp concrete," he said. "I don't think it's the best. ... But for now, I think a little bit of privacy -- not being rained on, not sleeping on the ground, not getting pneumonia from the damp -- has a little bit of value."



Jose Font, 50, agrees. He got an EDAR late last year. He said he's been homeless off and on since 1979. He slept on a tarp with a blanket and worked on computer repairs before he became one of about 60 people to get an EDAR.



"Everybody calls it the hobo condo. Everybody envies me because I sleep on a mattress inside," he said. "It makes me feel like I've got something to come to. It feels more like a home than just a tarp and concrete."



He added, "It's light as a feather when I push it. I can put it anywhere."



Font keeps it locked to a telephone on
what began distributing makeshift tents What was Charity the brainchild of? what does homeless man say What did the homeless man call it? Who is distributing makeshift tents?
Everyone Deserves A Roof nonprofit organization. "Revenge of the Nerds" movie producer Peter Samuelson, "Everybody calls it the hobo condo. Everybody envies me because I sleep on a mattress inside," hobo condo. Gardenhire
question: what began distributing makeshift tents, answer: Everyone Deserves A Roof nonprofit organization. | question: What was Charity the brainchild of?, answer: "Revenge of the Nerds" movie producer Peter Samuelson, | question: what does homeless man say, answer: "Everybody calls it the hobo condo. Everybody envies me because I sleep on a mattress inside," | question: What did the homeless man call it?, answer: hobo condo. | question: Who is distributing makeshift tents?, answer: Gardenhire