This Utah man invited homeless people to live in his front yard

“The goal is to de-stigmatize how people view homelessness,” Mann explains. “Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and helped when they need it.”

The local activist opened up his impromptu tent area, dubbed “Village Camp,” in mid-January. Some 15 people live there right now. Mann tells CNN that the residents came from other camps in Salt Lake City that were shut down.

“We wanted to show that to solve this problem we have to address it as a community and not be afraid of it.”

Mann points out how Village Camp’s residents help pull their weight in the community, especially at the urban garden he maintains.