Free the Charleston Tiny Houses

Whereas the City of Charleston has proposed to force evacuation of "Tent City" near the Intersection of Huger Street and Meeting Street in Downtown Charleston; and

Further whereas, several other "tent cities" exist in and near the city which are a consequence of the Charleston area's economy of low paying, often seasonal jobs and a cost of living now well over the national average; and

Further whereas, it would be cruel and unjust to force the residents of tent city to accept housing arrangements which may be unsuited to them which are selected by others to meet an arbitrary deadline after they've been permitted to live there for over two years; and

Further whereas, the Tiny House Fit for A King is nearly completed and four other tiny houses have either been finished or funded and many organizations are prepared to assist in building homes as are the homeless residents of Tent City themselves; and

Further whereas, experience has demonstrated that placing previously unhouse citizens in market rate apartments has a high long term failure rate, resulting in devastating returns to the streets and homelessness; and

Further, whereas, tiny house villages now have ten years of demonstrated success in providing affordable housing for economically challenged citizens at a cost which is a fraction of that of traditional shelters and which can often be completely self supporting; and

Further whereas, the successful establishment of a tiny house village would provide a model for making affordable housing available in the City of Charleston again which could be extended to other groups such as women and children, young people and creative workers so that the city doesn't continue to move towards becoming a place exclusively populated by the wealthy.