Defying Orders: How Miss Carly’s Will Continue Serving Rockford’s Homeless

For many years Miss Carly's was a beloved charity helping the homeless community in Rockford, Illinois, but it was recently told to shut down by the City. Now the big question is; what will happen next?

Miss Carly's Legal Battles in Rockford

Since 2019, Miss Carly's has been in a legal battle with the City of Rockford over zoning issues, and this week the battle came to a head.

Basically, the charity has been operating under a Special Use Permit since 2019, which allows them to operate as a "live-work non-profit", which the City has determined is no longer valid.

According to an article on mystateline.com;

In July of this year, the city’s Zoning Director determined that Miss Carly’s, at 1125 5th Avenue, was no longer operating as a live-work organization because the owners had abandoned the site and lived elsewhere.

No longer living on the premises isn't the only problem Miss Carly's is facing.

The building the nonprofit operates out of has several code violations and safety issues that have not been addressed, and there is also an issue with "financial transparency".

On November 19, 2024 the City of Rockford's Zoning Board of Appeals voted to force Miss Carly's to shutdown, but the nonprofit's owner, Carly Rice, isn't having it.

How Miss Carly's Plans to Continue Serving Rockford's Homeless

Rockford's Zoning Board of Appeals may have issued a shutdown order, but it has not been enforced by the courts yet, so the battle isn't over and Miss Carly's will not be shutting its doors to homeless in need...

I think it's important to remember that Miss Carly's isn't the only charity helping Rockford's homeless population. Carpenter's Place and the Rockford Rescue Mission are two other resources that always have their doors open to help people in need.