Tent Cities Ripe With Controversy

If you want to spark a controversy, just bring up tent cities. 

Since the economy has been hurting, homeless encampments have become more prevalent and more populated in communities across the US. As diverse the residents and characteristics of these communities may be, they all have on thing in common: they are cloaked in controversy.  

Case in point: here are three stories from three corners of the U.S., all key questions related to tent cities that community-level leaders are struggling to address. 

The Safety Debate

In Washington State, homeless campers in a county environmental preservation area have sparked concern among environmental advocates about potential damage to the wildlife, according to the Kitsap Sun:

More homeless are camping out in the woods of the 460-acre Illahee Preserve, volunteer stewards say, and they're worried about the effect they are having on the county-owned park.

Homeless camps are not new there, but members of the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee say the number has increased in the last four months.

With summer approaching and drier weather on the way, camp fires could spread, volunteers say, threatening the woods and neighboring homes. [snip]

They say campers are damaging habitat by leaving garbage, walking off trails to hide their camps and going to the bathroom in the woods.

Allowing people to camp, build fires and leave waste in the park goes against the committee's mission and the park's designation as a preservation area, said Vic Ulsh, stewardship co-chairman.

"We as the park stewards do have great compassion for the homeless folks that are out there," he said. "As much as we'd like to solve the problems and find them a place to stay, we are the park stewards and it is our job to protect the park."

To Sanction or Not To Sanction?

In Tampa, Florida, neighbors and homeless advocates are squaring off over a proposal to sanction the city's homeless encampment. Neighbors want to see a more permanent, humane solution while advocates insist there is nowhere else for the homeless to go, according to the Central Tampa News & Tribune:

"I would encourage anyone who has a hand in this decision to think of a homeless person as another part of the ecology of community of which none are expendable," said Edgar Santiago. "Most completely, I am a person, a soul."

Santiago is homeless, temporarily living in a room at a St. Petersburg soup kitchen, Portamento of Hope. He joined with Catholic Charities officials, Jesuit priests from Sacred Heart Catholic Church and others in support of the Hillsborough County tent city.

Neighbors who oppose the complex say both they and homeless people deserve better than a mix of tents and wooden shelters, or casitas, which would house people for up to 90 days at a time.

"It's a cheap fix ... for a long-term problem," said East Lake Park resident Hal Hart. "Aren't we creating the third-world equivalent of a shanty town?"

Hart and dozens of residents from neighborhoods including East Lake Park, Staley Estates, Grant Park and Meadowwood Condos spoke against the project. They maintain the homeless shelters will increase crime, reduce property values and curb future growth.

There are crime, drugs and prostitution issues plaguing communities now, said Desmond King, a Northview Hills resident and vice president of Grant Park's civic association.

"We have our hands full," he said. "The last thing we need is an addition. Nothing against the homeless."

Tent Cities as a Point-of-Entry to Services

Nobody can agree about what should be done with a tent city in Nashua, New Hampshire. But advocates argue that, despite any hazards posed by the tent city, closing the encampment will only make it more challenging to locate those in need and connect them to life-saving services. Here's a clip from the Nashua Telegraph:

Everybody needs to sleep somewhere, and regardless of what the city does about the Maple Island encampment, there remain more homeless people than there are beds in shelters and substance treatment facilities.

Opinions vary as to whether the homeless should be allowed to continue using that corner of the park as a campground.

The Maple Island homeless encampment violates city ordinances, and some argue it poses health and fire hazards, and discourages other people from using the park.

Homeless experts and city officials recognize that it isn't always easy to help people into shelters and services.

Finding the homeless is the first step toward helping them, and from Paquette's point of view, the Maple Island encampment has been a valuable resource.

"Mine Falls is a good, good area," she said. "There haven't been really that many problems there . . . It's a good spot to be able to find a lot of the homeless population."

While the debates surrounding tent cities are numerous, there is one key point of consensus: American tent cities are unacceptable. They are also proof that we need a new approach to creating decent, affordable housing and serving vulnerable populations- such as low-income, mentally ill, substance abusers. The tent city debate will not go away until the issue of homelessness is solved.