Plans released for new center for homeless and at-risk communities

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston unveiled plans Friday for the Hope Center, a new building that hopes to help homeless and at-risk communities.

Once built, the Hope Center plans to provide every service necessary in one location for people to emerge from their housing crisis. The center will have showers, laundry machines, food assistance, and health care located at 9 Cunnington Ave.

The Hope Center Director, Latosha Fludd, hopes the new building will be a one stop shop to connect the unhoused population with the resources they need.

“Over the years, the city has felt the need to address the homelessness problem here and come together collectively to eliminate homelessness. The Hope Center is kind of a baby of this process,” Fludd said.

Roughly $4.6 million has been raised out of the $7 million goal to build the center.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the Hope Center will bring resources that the city has not yet been able to provide.

“We’re going to build the building to be a permanent asset of the city to help those most in need in our community,” Tecklenburg said. “I really believe at the end of the day, that our community is judged by how we help those most in need and we want to empower those; give them a hand so that they can get to a better place in life.”

Fludd said the project does not have an exact completion date at the moment, but it should be done within the next year.

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