So I went out to get my comics today (rapid reviews coming later) and, since I was in the neighborhood, stopped by at home to grab some necessities and drop off other stuff.
I also went over to check out the tent city.
As I drove up to my house, I passed one police SUV and a regular police car. When I went out to get my mail, a police car drove slowly past. When I started out on my short walk to the tent city, another police car drove past me.
From our driveway, I could see blue tarps through the trees in the direction of the tent city. So it's visible from our house, barely. As I walked up the street I could hear children playing on the playground at St Brendan. I could see no signs of life at Heritage, the school that locked down when the tent city moved in. The other school is on the other side of Heritage, and is a public school, and wasn't visible to me during my walk. There were two police cars parked in front of Heritage, one in the driveway, and one on the street.
In front of St Brendan, between the playground and tent city, another police car was parked. As I went around the corner and got my first real view of tent city, I could see another police car just vanishing around the far corner.
The police were out in force, but no newsvans. I guess it's yesterday's news.
Tent City itself ("Tent City 4" is the official name) was set up on a vacant lot. Below is a photo from TerraServer that shows where Tent City is located. The picture was taken two years ago, recently most of the trees on that lot were removed.
As you can see, the location of the tent city is surrounded by churches and vacant lots. In addition, there's a regular chain link fence all around the lot they are using, and they put up a temporary chain link fence about five feet inside the first fence (thus making sure no fingers are in danger).
As I got closer, I saw a woman and her daughter struggling to get two cases of bottled water out of their car. I offered to help, and, they gave me a case while the daughter took some dry goods and the mother took the other case. We walked up to the tent city, which is set back from the road, and handed over the donations. The woman filled out a form and I just looked around at the scene.
The ground in the lot is horrible. It had a lot of trees, and when they removed them there wasn't any tilling or leveling. The ground is bumpy and covered in roots. It's extremely easy to trip, and difficult to walk on.
Most of the tents were set up on pallets so they weren't directly on the ground. A handful weren't, I suspected (and it was later confirmed) that they ran out of pallets.
The front-most tent was where people were dropping off donations, and from the look of it there had been a ton of donations already. There was a stack of bottled water as big as a car, to which I added my case. When the woman I helped expressed dismay at bringing something they already had so much of, the security guy reassured her and said, "we are a little leary of our water supply, so we're very happy to get safe drinking water."
When the woman and her daughter left, the security guy noticed that I was sticking around and said "hi". I explained that I lived up the street and I was just checking them out. He asked if I would like a tour. I said yes, and he hollered to another guy a few feet away. I was introduced to Dean (I think that was his name), who took me around the tents and showed me how the encampment was set up. Dean was wearing a plastic child's fireman hat, which I later learned was a donation. I did not comment on it.
As we walked, I glanced up the hill at Heritage, and saw a group of angry looking women standing in the parking lot, glaring at the tents. I wondered if one of them was the woman worried about fingers. Surely they could see that there was no danger of fingers getting gnawed? I felt a little sorry for them, being so angry at something they couldn't control, when instead they could have used it for a great learning experience for their kids.
Some of the tents were set up a little haphazardly, but there was one section that was set up like a street. My guide explained that there weren't many people around because everyone was out at their job or looking for a job. We walked around in a circle, and I noticed a pile of clothes. Dean made a little face and explained that one thing they didn't lack for was clothing. There was a woman going through the clothes carefully taking notes on sizes and sorting them into piles. Whenever anyone walked by she'd stop them and hand them some and say, "try this on". Dean explained that the entire tent behind the pile was full of donated clothing.
As we walked, another guy came by carrying several decks of playing cards. He offered some to Dean and I. We both politely declined. Dean explained that a man had come by earlier and donated an entire case of playing cards.
Our last stop on the tour was the food preparation area, which was a couple of card tables under a canopy. The donation tent was right next door, and the first security guy I met was going through the tent checking for things as people asked for stuff.
They were sorely missing their coffee, apparently, as they'd had a coffee-maker earlier, but it was borrowed and the owner took it home. They would have a generator soon, and would be able to brew up some then, but at the moment they were out. There was plenty of water, though, and lots of fruit juice.
I asked Dean about the rules of the camp. He said everyone needed to be looking for work. They had 45 people in the camp now, with the rest moving in over the next three weeks. The camp maximum is 100. There is a waiting list to get into the camp, and as people find work and manage to save up for a regular place to live, they get out of the camp and new people move in. There is a strict no-drugs policy. I didn't ask about alcohol. I did notice that a lot of the people in the camp smoked.
While I stood jawing with the security guys, a young couple came up and asked if they needed to sign out. The main security guy told them it was ok to leave whenever, just make sure someone knew they were going. They thanked him and left. I didn't see any kids in the camp except for wide-eyed youngsters dropping off donations with their parents. The camp was clean, with several well-placed garbage cans and coffee cans for cigarettes.
I asked what they needed, and they said the biggies were tarps, smaller tents, and battery powered lanterns. Even once they got a generator, they still wouldn't be able to light up the tents, and flashlights are really lousy to read with. More pallets were on the way, so that wasn't a worry. They were also concerned that the water supply they had wasn't safe, so they were glad of any drinking water headed their way.
They thanked me for visiting, and I thanked them for allowing the visit, and I headed home. All three police cars were still in place, and another seemed to follow me until I used my remote to open my garage, then he went past my house.
I've camped before. Never for long. Never out of sheer necessity. If I were forced to camp, I think a place like Tent City 4 would be a dream come true. They were nice people, all trying to get back on their feet. And the camp is supposed to be a safe place to get a start. I can't object to them being neighbors. So I won't.
