CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - An organization called Amnesty International with the College of Charleston and the South Carolina Housing Justice Network are working together to bring awareness to housing crises in Charleston.

The two organizations held their first meeting on Wednesday night for community members and students at the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center on the College of Charleston's campus.

Hali Lujan Castro and Karina Kewlani are both co-presidents of Amnesty International at the College of Charleston. Castro says that they connected with the SC Housing Justice Network back in April at the High Water Festival when they tabled with Black Lives Matter.

She said they realized how many students and community members were unhappy with the living conditions in Charleston.

"We see that students and also local populations that have been living here are finding it harder to stay where they've been living for so many years," Castro said.

Some of the various concerns talked about in the meeting included skyrocketing rent prices, poor maintenance conditions, prioritizing the tourism industry over local needs and compromises both students and community members have had to make in order to afford to live.

Kewlani said that with the College of Charleston having a high number of admitted students it has created a big impact on campus housing.

"Which has led to lots of students resorting to off campus housing which can sometimes be predatory in pricing," she said. "Landlords can also unfortunately not be up to date with maintenance and various other issues as well."

Kewlani said their focus is reinforcing tenant rights and demand. The students and community members who attended the meeting shared their experiences with housing in Charleston as well.

Many addressed the issue of rent increases, but other topics included pet fees being high on top of all of the other costs they are paying, areas that they can afford to live in are unsafe, parking fees, flooding and mold.

One student shared that she had to find housing in Summerville because of rent costs and that sometimes her commute time to and from campus total is about three hours.

One community member Dymitri Holmes says he used to live in Charleston, but moved to Summerville because of the housing conditions. He said he came to the meeting to get a better understanding of how to bring people together in order to see a change.

"The cost of living in places in which the accommodations just don't fit the cost," he said. "They are paying that much money and then they're being able to live in these such shotty places in which they don't, you know, certain things don't work, they're having mold, they have pests running around rats and stuff like that."

The executive director of the SC Housing Justice Network Kenya Cummings said most of the calls they receive are about rental caps and living conditions.

"If you're paying two thousand dollars a month, you should have working toilets, you shouldn't have to worry about mold and other calls that we get all of the time about mold, about lack of air conditioning in Charleston and making it through the summer, heat in the winter. Lots of issues around costs and habitability," Cummings said.

Cummings said that they need more people to come alongside them to show how much housing conditions are really affecting them.

Cummings said that revitalizing Union Pier is a perfect example of how the community needs to get involved.

"The community needs to be able to give input on how things are being redeveloped and making sure that it's not just affordable housing for now, but what does it mean to have sustainable housing?" Cummings said.

Castro says through monthly meetings they want to be able to build a union and create a set list of demands and eventually get involved with Charleston officials.

"Eventually get involved on the county level. We first want to have that solid list of demands, so that eventually when we do get involved with the city council then we will be better and have more power as tenants," she says.

Right now, there isn't a date for the next meeting, however, Castro and Kewlani encourage those who are interested to reach out to them through their Instagram account @amnesty.cofc. Anyone is welcome to join.