but david tompkins says when the cameras aren't rolling, things are different. >> i mean, they're shoving around like ping-pong balls. >> reporter: in general, does anyone hassle you? >> nobody asks us to move. they tell us to move. they start taking our stuff. >> reporter: tompkins is a carpenter who lost his home several years ago. now he offers to build homes on wheels for others on the streets. >> i'll build one for anyone free. all they've got to do is ask. >> reporter: the city estimates some 3,500 people make their home on the streets. >> my name is rebecca. i'm 34. and i've been out here for about a year. >> reporter: she lives in a tent under the busy 101 freeway. >> it was better than being by myself. we have our good days and bad days, i guess. just like normal people. >> padilla says the others who live on this strip of sidewalk are like her family. >> it's all pretty hard. i guess the hardest thing is making sure you don't lose yourself. and giving up hope. staying true. when i put up my christmas tree for everybody, i called it the tree of hope. what else you got? >> with th