Charleston, SC- Construction of Charleston’s first Tiny House for the homeless will begin on the West Side of Meeting Street in Tent City under the off ramp of the Ravenel Bridge on Friday, January 15 at 9 am at the start of the Martin Luther King weekend.
The goal is to construct, from scrap lumber and donated materials, a portable tiny house suitable for one person over weekend while the national media is in Charleston for the Presidential Debates. The design will evolve as materials come in. Work should be complete and the first resident moved in on Martin Luther King day at 4 pm.
This project will go forward on the weekend when a debate between the Democratic Candidates for President will be held on Sunday evening and US Congressman James Clyburn will hold a Fish Fry for hundreds of guests on Saturday night. There will also be several events associated with the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend which will give activists an opportunity to meet and talk about Charleston’s growing shortage of affordable housing with wages hovering around $9 an hour and rents soaring to $1500 a month. The construction site at tent city will also serve as a place for dialogue and discussion throughout the weekend.
We plan to invite all the Democratic Candidates for President of the United States to visit the construction site during their visit to the Holy City. You can help us by contacting the campaigns and asking them to do so. Of course, Republican candidates are welcome as well since they have a debate here Thursday night and could visit the Friday morning kickoff if they like.
The house will not be built on a trailer, but can be moved using a flat bed tow truck or auto trailer. It will be sized so it fits on a standard auto transport trailer, no more than 8 x 12 feet and have strong point where a winch can be attached. The house should be no more than ten feet tall to the peak of the roof.
Our Contacts at Tent City, who will help with the construction, will be Jerry (843) 302-2916 Jeff (843) 872-4840. Communications will be managed by William Hamilton (843) 870-5299, wjhamilton29464@gmail.com. Updates at goo.gl/... on facebook. The location to drop off materials is shown on the right.
On Saturday, Jan 16 and Sunday, Jan 17 afternoon there will be donated materials pickups at the James Island Lowes. You’ll be able to purchase needed materials we’re unable to scavenge or repurpose and we’ll load them on a truck and take them directly to the construction site. There will be no need for you to transport them in your vehicle. You make the purchase. We do the rest. We’ll also post needs on our Facebook event page.
Materials needed for this project include
- 2 2x8 boards, 10 – 12 feet long
- 2 2x8 boards, 10-8 feet long
- 2x4s, Misc. Lengths, prefer six feet or longer.
- Plywood, half inch
- Tar paper, any size
- Framing Nails, framing “clips.”
- Roofing nails
- Roll insulation, foamboard insulation
- Door, Windows, any type or size.
- Siding.
For updates see goo.gl/...