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Mad Housers

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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 more practically than the prototype". 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". They also try to choose their build sites based on where the homeless already live. 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 spent on the first hut to $ 25 to $ 40 each".
1556: 370:) also created tension between the city and the Mad Housers by clearing out several sites. However, the Mad Housers were able to reach an "informal alliance with local officials and the city police". 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". 373:
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
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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
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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
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Based on their research and plans, Connor, Finkel and three other architecture students built the first hut. It was a small 6' by 8' by 6' plywood box "outfitted with a bed and shelves for belongings". However, it was dry and kept "out the wind and the rain. This first experiment at housing the
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The newspaper and magazine articles of the late 1980s tended to emphasize the secretive nature of the organization describing them as "guerrilla hut-builders", a "secret society of sorts", and having "the air of a fraternity prank". This image of secrecy was in fact an integral component of the
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Several articles mention how the clients arrange their personal possessions in their hut with special significance because they did not have that luxury before. Having a hut is a transformational experience for the clients.
359:. Since then, they have continued to bring "the plight of the homeless to public attention". Then, in 1990, an hour-long documentary aired on 90 TV stations around the nation dramatizing the Mad Houser's work. 342:
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. As of 2017, most of the clients are older males.
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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".
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Morris, Holly (1 October 1992). "Atlanta Group's Tents with Privacy Are Big Hit with Hurricane Victims".
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There's No Place Like Home: Anthropological Perspectives on Housing and Homelessness in the United States
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The Mad Housers first emerged in 1987, founded by graduate students, Michael Connor and Brian Finkel, of
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Krasner, Mike (28 March 1990). "'The Mad Housers' grapples with issue of homelessness".
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In July 1988, they participated in a demonstration for the homeless at the
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Shelters for the homeless began with GA Tech architecture students
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Non-profit organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state)
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Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
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Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works
318:to address the problem of homelessness in Atlanta. 330:removed one that was built on their access land. 489:. New York Times. 15 March 1988. p. A,16. 759: 667:"A Hut Resident and a Mad Houser Coordinator" 267: 8: 711:Meet Tracy Woodard President of Mad Housers 401:"Mad Housers Hut. Design for the Other 90%" 766: 752: 744: 439:"Clandestine Carpenters Help the Homeless" 432: 430: 428: 426: 424: 422: 274: 260: 15: 573: 571: 569: 567: 1205:Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca 392: 199: 137: 111: 92: 61: 27: 18: 665:Anderson, Kristine F. (14 June 1989). 483:"Raising the Roof to Aid the Homeless" 437:Anderson, Kristine F. (14 June 1989). 316:Georgia Tech's College of Architecture 477: 475: 473: 471: 469: 7: 696:article about the Mad Housers (2005) 540: 538: 328:Georgia Department of Transportation 1245:Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign 364:1988 Democratic National Convention 51:International Covenant on Economic, 1220:Squatters' Action for Secure Homes 644:. University of California Press. 362:Important city events such as the 14: 1195:Ontario Coalition Against Poverty 1555: 1554: 487:The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 105:1202a Nuisance Abatement Program 716:Summit Spotlight of Mad Housers 638:Davis, Sam (29 November 2004). 310:Early history (1987–1999) 160:Kensington Welfare Rights Union 1591:Squatting in the United States 1185:National Union of the Homeless 1135:Advisory Service for Squatters 521:. Greenwood Publishing Group. 357:Democratic National Convention 170:National Union of the Homeless 1: 671:The Christian Science Monitor 1215:Revolutionary Housing League 546:"Organizations: Mad Housers" 515:Dehavenon, Anna Lou (1999). 149:Organizations for Reform Now 1351:No Land! No House! No Vote! 616:(Home ed.). p. 5. 1607: 1175:Landless Workers' Movement 1160:Homeless Workers' Movement 504:. 4 July 1988. p. 34. 301:, research and education. 125:Mutual housing association 53:Social and Cultural Rights 1550: 1421:The Strategy of the Snail 608:May, Lee (18 June 1990). 444:Christian Science Monitor 378:Phenomenology of the huts 1372:Squatting the real story 688:The Mad Housers Web site 580:The Atlanta Constitution 500:"A Holiday for Heroes". 334:considered trespassing. 147:Association of Community 42:Universal Declaration of 1414:The Silverado Squatters 1586:Homelessness charities 1386:The Cambridge Squatter 726:Bold Journey Interview 595:Telegram & Gazette 550:Georgia Trend Magazine 291:non-profit corporation 1150:Eurodusnie Collective 1130:Abahlali baseMjondolo 721:Mad Housers Interview 28:International context 1497:Occupation (protest) 1309:In Krakende Welstand 1200:Picture the Homeless 366:(and presumably the 130:Community land trust 1400:The Harvest Gypsies 1230:The City is For All 804:Antigua and Barbuda 407:on 9 September 2007 190:Urban Homesteading 138:Housing and justice 120:Housing cooperative 112:Solution frameworks 75:Homestead principle 1452:Adverse possession 1407:The Legacy of Luna 1393:The Good Terrorist 1225:Take Back the Land 1170:Justice Not Crisis 552:. 1 September 2017 185:Take Back the Land 101:Urban homesteading 80:Adverse possession 1568: 1567: 1502:Pavement dwellers 1435:We, the Invisible 1365:Squatter's Rights 1267:A Squatter's Tale 1155:Exodus Collective 864:England and Wales 731:Tiny House Design 651:978-0-520-23525-0 614:Los Angeles Times 528:978-0-89789-661-0 287:Mad Housers, Inc. 284: 283: 180:Operation Move-In 22:the United States 1598: 1558: 1557: 1428:Two Up, Two Down 1337:Miracle in Milan 1235:The Land is Ours 1210:Reclaim The City 768: 761: 754: 745: 675: 674: 662: 656: 655: 635: 629: 628: 624: 618: 617: 605: 599: 598: 590: 584: 583: 575: 562: 561: 559: 557: 542: 533: 532: 512: 506: 505: 497: 491: 490: 479: 464: 463: 461: 459: 434: 417: 416: 414: 412: 403:. 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Index

Squatting in
the United States

Right to housing
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights

International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights

Sweat equity
Homestead principle
Adverse possession
Gift
Urban homesteading
Housing cooperative
Mutual housing association
Community land trust
Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now

Homes Not Jails
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Mad Housers
National Union of the Homeless
Occupy the Farm
Operation Move-In
Take Back the Land
Urban Homesteading
Assistance Board

ABC No Rio
Bullet Space
Dos Blockos
C-Squat
Dignity Village
Gowanus Batcave
Slab City
Umbrella House
Umoja Village

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