Mad Housers

Last updated

Mad Housers, Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in Atlanta and engaged in charitable work, research and education.

Contents

History

Early history (1987–1999)

The Mad Housers first emerged in 1987, founded by graduate students, Michael Connor and Brian Finkel, of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture [1] to address the problem of homelessness in Atlanta.

Based on their research and plans, Connor, Finkel and three other architecture students built the first hut. [2] It was a small 6' by 8' by 6' plywood box "outfitted with a bed and shelves for [the client's] belongings". [3] However, it was dry and kept "out the wind and the rain. [2] This first experiment at housing the homeless was different from their later attempts: they built the house at a particular location and left it there to see what would happen. After two days, someone had claimed the house, moved it to a more concealed location and "reassembled [it] more practically than the prototype". [3] The group no longer builds haphazardly like this though. They "select clients beforehand, making sure they actually want huts and usually getting them to assist in construction". [4] They also try to choose their build sites based on where the homeless already live. [2] The group also became much more efficient in just their first year. They were able to erect a hut in just 20 minutes and began to use salvaged materials to build the huts "cutting the cost from 'the $200 [they] spent on the first hut to $25 to $40 each". [3]

The huts built by the volunteers are illegal as they were built on private and government properties in defiance of building codes. Some officials considered them an infraction of law. By June 1989, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs tore down two huts near a residential area and Georgia Department of Transportation removed one that was built on their access land. [2]

Mad Housers helps their clients squat on small lots away from general view in industrial areas or near the edge of transportation facilities. Their largest community as of 1999 had 21 huts. Before clients receive their huts, Mad Housers informs their clients that where they intend on squatting is considered trespassing. [5] : 93–95 

1999-

Tracy Woodard and Nick Hess took over the organization in 1999 and have been building huts at a rate of about 15 per year near where campers are already camping. [6] As of 2017, most of the clients are older males. "They don’t have to get sober or have a clean criminal record." Woodard says. [6]

Reception

The newspaper and magazine articles of the late 1980s tended to emphasize the secretive nature of the organization describing them as "guerrilla hut-builders", [7] a "secret society of sorts", and having "the air of a fraternity prank". [3] This image of secrecy was in fact an integral component of the organization for the first couple years. One Mad Houser explained in a newspaper article, "secrecy was necessary […] to avoid arrest and prevent the Georgia Department of Transportation […] from tearing them down". [7]

In July 1988, they participated in a demonstration for the homeless at the Democratic National Convention. [7] Since then, they have continued to bring "the plight of the homeless to public attention". [2] Then, in 1990, an hour-long documentary aired on 90 TV stations around the nation dramatizing the Mad Houser's work. [8]

Important city events such as the 1988 Democratic National Convention (and presumably the 1996 Olympics) also created tension between the city and the Mad Housers by clearing out several sites. [9] However, the Mad Housers were able to reach an "informal alliance with local officials and the city police". [2] As one article pointed out, "the mayors seem to have realized these are not normal times. We can't deal in niceties and fine points here". [10]

Even though huts were welcomed by the homeless, municipal officials obligated to uphold vagrancy laws and building codes were not thrilled and their reactions in 2004 were in between "grudging tolerance to outrage". While they provide alternative shelter, they violate zoning ordinances and building codes. [11] : 49–50 

Phenomenology of the huts

Several articles mention how the clients arrange their personal possessions in their hut with special significance because they did not have that luxury before. [3] [12] Having a hut is a transformational experience for the clients. [7]

Related Research Articles

House Building comprising a single dwelling

A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with humans.

Squatting Unauthorized occupation of property

Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were one billion slum residents and squatters globally. Squatting occurs worldwide and tends to occur when people who are poor and homeless find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing. It has a long history, broken down by country below.

Public housing Residential properties owned by a government

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, definitions of poverty, and other criteria for allocation vary within different contexts.

Home

A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. Homes provide sheltered spaces for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be performed such as sleeping, preparing food, eating and hygiene as well as providing spaces for work and leisure such as remote working, studying and playing.

Modular building Prefabricated building or house that consists of repeated sections

A modular building is a prefabricated building that consists of repeated sections called modules. Modularity involves constructing sections away from the building site, then delivering them to the intended site. Installation of the prefabricated sections is completed on site. Prefabricated sections are sometimes placed using a crane. The modules can be placed side-by-side, end-to-end, or stacked, allowing for a variety of configurations and styles. After placement, the modules are joined together using inter-module connections, also known as inter-connections. The inter-connections tie the individual modules together to form the overall building structure.

Homes Not Jails is an American organization that is affiliated with San Francisco Tenants Union. It describes itself as an all-volunteer organization committed to housing homeless people through direct action. The group was formed in 1992. Homes Not Jails does public actions as well as legislative advocacy and squatting. Homes not jails groups do "housing takeovers", acts of civil disobedience in which vacant buildings are publicly occupied, to demonstrate the availability of vacant property and to advocate that it be used for housing. The group has done many such occupations. Homes Not Jails has also done and assisted with hundreds of "covert" squats in which vacant buildings are broken into so that people in need of housing can move in.

Tent city Temporary housing facility

A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.

Dignity Village is a city-recognized legal encampment of an estimated 60 homeless people in Portland, Oregon, United States. In the days before Christmas of 2000, a group of transients in Portland established a tent city. It evolved from a group of self-described "outsiders" squatting a city owned land to a self-regulating, city-recognized campground as defined by Portland city code. The encampment is located on a land near Portland International Airport, and has elected community officials and constructed crude but functional cooking, social, electric, and sanitary facilities.

Affordable housing Housing affordable to those with a median household income

Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental, to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.

Tiny-house movement Movement advocating smaller living spaces

The tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less." According to the 2018 International Residential Code, Appendix Q Tiny Houses, a tiny house is a "dwelling unit with a maximum of 37 square metres of floor area, excluding lofts." While tiny housing primarily represents a return to simpler living, the movement was also regarded as a potential eco-friendly solution to the existing housing industry, as well as a feasible transitional option for individuals experiencing a lack of shelter.

St. Bartholomews Episcopal Church (Atlanta) Church in Atlanta, Georgia

St. Bartholomew's is an Episcopal parish in Atlanta, Georgia, which is notable for its ministries, choral music, and architecture.

Steine House Historic site in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Steine House is the former residence of Maria Fitzherbert, first wife of the Prince Regent, in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The building is now owned and used by Brighton YMCA, the largest supported housing provider in Brighton and Hove. Brighton YMCA houses and resettles 311 homeless people of all ages, providing the best opportunities to empower clients to reach their full potential and achieve their aspirations.

Squatting in England and Wales Occupation of unused land or derelict buildings in England and Wales

In England and Wales, squatting—taking possession of land or an empty house the squatter does not own—occurs for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty, and recreation. Many squats are residential; some are also opened as social centres. Land may be occupied by New Age travellers or treesitters.

Squatting in the United States is the unauthorized use of real estate. Historically, squatting occurred during the California Gold Rush and when colonial European settlers established land rights. There was squatting during the Great Depression in Hoovervilles and also during World War II. Shanty towns returned to the US after the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and in the 2010s, there have been increasing numbers of people squatting foreclosed homes using fraudulent documents. In some cases, a squatter may be able to obtain ownership of property through adverse possession.

HOPE Atlanta, the programs of Travelers Aid of Metropolitan Atlanta, is a non-profit organization that has served the metro-Atlanta area for 112 years. Since its inception in 1900, the organization has provided services to over one million people in need throughout the counties surrounding Atlanta, Georgia.

Indigenous architecture Field of architecture

The field of Indigenous architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of, for and by Indigenous people. It is a field of study and practice in the United States, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, Arctic area of Sápmi and many other countries where Indigenous people have a built tradition or aspire translate or to have their cultures translated in the built environment. This has been extended to landscape architecture, urban design, planning, public art, placemaking and other ways of contributing to the design of built environments.

Housing in New Zealand Overview of housing in New Zealand

Housing in New Zealand was traditionally based on the quarter-acre block, detached suburban home, but many historical exceptions and alternative modern trends exist. New Zealand has largely followed international designs. From the time of organised European colonisation in the mid-19th century there has been a general chronological development in the types of homes built in New Zealand, and examples of each generation are still commonly occupied.

Squatting in Australia Occupation of land or buildings in Australia without permission of owner

Squatting in Australia usually refers to a person who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. In 19th century Australian history, a squatter was a settler who occupied a large tract of Aboriginal land in order to graze livestock. At first this was done illegally, later under licence from the Crown.

Squatting in Ireland

Squatting in the Republic of Ireland is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. In the 1960s, the Dublin Housing Action Committee highlighted the housing crisis by squatting buildings. From the 1990s onwards there have been occasional political squats such as Grangegorman.

Squatting in the Philippines Occupation of derelict land or abandoned buildings

Squatting in the Philippines occurs when people build makeshift houses called "barong-barong"; urban areas such as Metro Manila and Metro Davao have large informal settlements. The Philippine Statistics Authority has defined a squatter, or alternatively "informal dwellers", as "One who settles on the land of another without title or right or without the owner's consent whether in urban or rural areas". Squatting is criminalized by the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, also known as the Lina Law. There have been various attempts to regularize squatter settlements, such as the Zonal Improvement Program and the Community Mortgage Program. In 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated that out of the country's population of about 106 million, 4.5 million were homeless.

References

  1. ↑ "Mad Housers Hut. Design for the Other 90%". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anderson, Kristine F. (14 June 1989). "Clandestine Carpenters Help the Homeless". Christian Science Monitor . ISSN   0882-7729 . Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Raising the Roof to Aid the Homeless". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. New York Times. 15 March 1988. p. A,16.
  4. ↑ "A Holiday for Heroes". Newsweek. 4 July 1988. p. 34.
  5. ↑ Dehavenon, Anna Lou (1999). There's No Place Like Home: Anthropological Perspectives on Housing and Homelessness in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-89789-661-0.
  6. 1 2 "Organizations: Mad Housers". Georgia Trend Magazine. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Morris, Holly (1 October 1992). "Atlanta Group's Tents with Privacy Are Big Hit with Hurricane Victims". The Atlanta Constitution. p. A3.
  8. ↑ Krasner, Mike (28 March 1990). "'The Mad Housers' grapples with issue of homelessness". Telegram & Gazette (ALL ed.). Worcester, Massachusetts: ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. p. D5.
  9. ↑ May, Lee (18 June 1990). "Almost Homeless: 'Mad Housing' in Atlanta Their volunteer-built shacks are in hidden spots but hut-dwellers fear they are living on borrowed time". Los Angeles Times (Home ed.). p. 5.
  10. ↑ "Homeless Group Vows too Face Bulldozer". United Press International. 25 May 1992.
  11. ↑ Davis, Sam (29 November 2004). Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-23525-0.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Kristine F. (14 June 1989). "A Hut Resident and a Mad Houser Coordinator". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 13.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.