Homeless Silhouettes dot Daniel Island

Earlier this month over 400 silhouettes were installed on the grounds of the Gaillard Center, with the support of Mayor Tecklenburg, with the intent of bringing awareness to homelessness in Charleston in a meaningful way. Silhouettes have also been installed on Daniel Island at Daniel Island Academy (pictured here), Black Tie Music, Providence Baptist Church, and Center Park. 

Meadors, Inc., the company that created this installation to maintain awareness of the people experiencing homelessness in our community, explained on their website, “We have used the skills of our six workshops to design and digitally fabricate the installation. The 430 figure cut-outs that make up the installation throughout the Charleston area represent the approximate number of those experiencing homelessness in our community based on the last official count. The cut-outs represent one of the issues the homeless experience – the majority of people look right through them.”

The website continues, “Homelessness is not something that can be completely eradicated; however, a defined and established path should be in place so that homelessness is temporary and not repeated. With sustained help from the community, the many organizations, whose mission is to help the homeless, will be able to create a sustainable system whereby homelessness is temporary and the goal of functional zero is achieved.”

In a letter sent to its families, the Daniel Island Academy noted that it “is proud to be a part of a community-wide architectural art installation designed to educate through connection and maintain awareness of the men, women, and children experiencing homelessness in our community.”

“At Daniel Island Academy we support the idea that an empathetic community is a stronger one,” the letter continues. “The community becomes stronger when it engages in issues and deals with them. We believe that through education, awareness, and connection, we can reach a point when the homeless population is not growing because there are enough resources to successfully help those who become homeless transition into housing at a rate that keeps up with or surpasses the rate of people becoming homeless in Charleston, South Carolina.”

For more information, visit http://charlestonmeadorshomelessinstallation.com.