MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — After two years of construction, the tiny home village along 3rd Avenue N. in Myrtle Beach is set to open next week, but not without multiple break-ins happening since May.
Veterans Welcome Home Resource Center’s CEO Scott Dulebohn said there’s been multiple break-ins to the tiny homes. He said they started at the beginning of May, but have died down in the past two weeks.
He said Myrtle Beach police have come to the site to take finger prints off the windows in homes to gain more information about the break-ins.
He said four of the 25 homes were the ones broken into through the windows. After volunteers noticed the break-ins, they tried to prevent them with PVC piping, only to come back and see that the windows were shattered and more residue of cigarettes, smoke, stained couches, and even objects lit on fire inside and outside of the homes remained.
Dulebohn said that the village project is run completely on volunteers, so getting the job done on top of the vandalism has made their job more difficult.
“I’m guessing it’s some of the homeless population that’s living down here that’s jumping through the windows,” he said. “They just broke some windows.”
He said he sympathizes with those who could be suffering from homelessness. His team even left a note on one of the homes for those breaking in to give them a call to try and help them. He later found the note crumpled up and tossed on the ground outside of one of the homes with a burn hole on the side of it.
“Trying to be understanding and get everything, but at the same time, we’re also trying to do something good for the community to get folks off the street,” Dulebohn said. “So, we would appreciate it if they didn’t do that anymore.”
Though the break ins have been minor in costs, he said he looks forward to filling the homes with veterans who need them after years of hard work.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll make it positive however we can and get these things open and folks in here enjoying life,” he said.
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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.