In the woods off of Southeast 16th Avenue and Williston Road lives 36-year-old Sam Parrish. He built a home there; a tent reinforced with a tarp, a futon, a cot and solar powered lights next to a creek.
Parrish has many neighbors and said he hopes that residents of Gainesville will want to join his community.
Parrish also built an amphitheater out of logs to create a free music venue where bands can come to play, eat and even sleep.
About three years ago, Parrish started a YouTube channel that features his favorite musicians. He made it just in case his laptop broke, that way he would still be able to access his music.
Today, the channel, called artichokeification, has more than 1,500 subscribers and 2 million views.
The featured bands want to come and play in the amphitheater he built to show their appreciation.
“You shouldn’t have to dress a certain way to be associated with a certain style of music or deal with any of the hassles that come with house and bar shows,” he said. “I’m trying to break down those walls and offer a place where musicians and music lovers can come and feel free.”
The first official event was Monday at 6 p.m., and people were welcome to stay as long as they wanted. The show was moved to Parrish’s living area because of the rain. Free food was served, but donations were accepted.
Kiki Chidiac, a 20-year-old economics senior and co-worker of Parrish’s, attended the show and brought her hula hoops.
“I think what Sam is doing is awesome,” she said. “I’m seeing that you can live free and still have a normal existence.”
Parrish works as a chef at Reggae Shack and uses the money he makes to buy food to cook on the open fire and serve to the homeless.
He said he once made apricot-Dijon glazed pork chops but usually gets hot dogs or hamburgers and things that can be bought in bulk and easily shared. One time he found 28 frozen pizzas in a Dumpster, found a way to cook them on the grill and gave them to the homeless.
Parrish first moved to his current home this year on New Year’s Day, after reading several books about living free, breaking the chains of the landlord structure and building a community.
“I got fed up with paying rent and my neighbors who only complained,” he said. “So I set out to find a place where I could start something positive where people with like minds can help each other.”
He admitted that he didn’t like it for the first two weeks, but after he started cooking for people in exchange for their stories, he was soon able to call it home and build a community.
“It’s so soothing to go home and read a book by the creek,” he said. “I never have stress anymore.”
Although the community is part of Tent City, a southeast Gainesville homeless community that is associated with crime, Parrish insists those who live there only want to help and share the little they have.
The featured video on his channel is a song called “Community Love Song” by the Moon Bandits. The chorus of the song echoes Parrish’s main goal: “We’ll have community one day, build a family out of strangers down the way.”
He plans to have more shows in July and August, and his dream is to eventually have a food truck where he can offer discounts, jobs and leftovers to the homeless.
“You don’t have to be a bum to be homeless and live free,” he said. “And you don’t have to have a home to be a part of something good.”
