About Holy City Treks
Holy City Treks was founded in 2016 in memory of two College of Charleston students who were accidentally killed in traffic related incidents: Lyndsey Rant was killed when a motorist crashed a red light as she was crossing Septima Clark Parkway. Chris Bates was killed when he was riding his bike late one evening and went over a curb and lost control. As he landed on the pavement a car crushed his skull. He died later that evening at MUSC with his father at his side.
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Denise Marie Fugo, CEO and CFO of Holy City Treks, teaches at the College of Charleston and had many students who knew these vibrant young students that had lost their lives in 2016. Shock of these incidents rattled the college community. As their professor, Denise suggested these students put grief to good work and together Holy City Treks was born. The original mission was to improve safe alternative transportation, and to educate the community about issues in the current transportation system. However, as Denise and these students walked and documented the streets of the Charleston peninsula, they began to encounter more and more homeless individuals. This group learned that improving the lives and safety of the Charleston community went far beyond just transportation, so the mission of Holy City Treks’ was expanded in 2018 to focus on addressing the homelessness crisis by energizing people and energizing assets.
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“No one should ever be homeless. Ever.”