Happy Thanksgiving, yurt fans. I was hoping to find a Thanksgiving yurt somewhere that I could post for the holiday, but if you’ve ever googled yurt, most of the stuff that comes up is advertisements for yurts. So no dice.

Instead, today we’ll salute a yurt hero. Last year 12-year old Max Wallack won the 2009 “Trash to Treasure” design contest by designing the “Home Dome,” a homeless shelter made from plastic, wire, and packing peanuts. Does the design look familiar? That’s because it’s based on a yurt.

From Treehugger: “When I was six,” Max said, “I won an invention contest that included a trip to Chicago. While there, I saw homeless people living on streets, and beneath highways and underpasses. I felt very sorry for these people, and ever since then, felt that my goal and obligation was to find a way to help them. My invention improves the living conditions for homeless people, refugees, or disaster victims by giving them easy-to-assemble shelter.”

Max Wallack, yurt hero, we’re thankful for you.