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Tent city closed to new people

By CASEY CORA
Published April 19, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Jennifer Eaton, better known as "Mama" on area streets, was looking for a safe place to stay. Her friends at Williams Park directed her to tent city, where she quickly learned organizers have stopped accepting new residents.

Sleeping bag in tow, she walked over to the St. Vincent de Paul Society shelter.

That's been a familiar scene around tent city's latest incarnation, named New Hope Village, as organizers close the temporary shelter to new guests while assisting those who remain.

The population is dwindling as dozens of people have been relocated into treatment programs or moved into temporary housing using emergency 90-day vouchers.

Of the 74 tents first on the site, only 26 remain, said Sheila Lopez, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities, the organization bolstering the city's efforts at the Fourth Avenue N facility.

But the exodus presents a quandary for city officials, who had hoped a more permanent facility would be ready by the time the rental vouchers expire. But that now looks unlikely.

Lease issues have held up plans to convert the former Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority headquarters into a shelter facility, said Rhonda Abbott, social services manager for the city.

The delay may force the city to either extend the vouchers or the life of the tent city beyond 90 days. Those discussions are beginning.

Critics say removing tents whenever a resident leaves contradicts the "flow-through" model discussed at a recent city-sponsored homeless summit. Under that model, those leaving tent city would be replaced by other homeless people seeking temporary shelter.

"Many are only getting 30-day vouchers for hotels. They're back on the street in a month," said the Rev. Bruce Wright of Refuge Ministries, a group housing around 30 homeless people at the Lakewood United Church of Christ on 54th Avenue S. "The public has been deceived."

City officials say they don't have the money or resources to support a "flow-through" tent city, but are hoping to provide more stable conditions for the area's homeless population.

"We're fighting really hard to get a permanent facility," said City Council member Jamie Bennett.

Currently, New Hope Village is staffed by a revolving door of city employees who offer social services information and direct latecomers to area shelters. Police have pledged a 24-hour presence.

Inside the city-run encampment, residents said they are content with conditions at the fenced in patch of land. Most tenants work during the day and return, quietly, before the midnight curfew, said Tom de Yampert, the city's manager of housing and community development.

Fourteen people have been evicted for violating the contract they signed to get into New Hope Village. Police said they have made only two arrests after several minor dustups.

"There's a level of respect," de Yampert said. "Everybody has to give it to their neighbors and staff that are out there."

Tom Glass, who lived at several different incarnations of the tent city, praised the efforts of Catholic Charities in helping the 57-year-old find a more permanent dwelling at the Shirley Ann Hotel, 936 First Ave. N.

Clutching two blue duffel bags, Glass left the place he called home for more than a month on Tuesday. With a Catholic Charities rental voucher in hand, he's looking forward to a fresh start.

"They done the best they could," Glass said of Catholic Charities. "It's a damn good thing."

Times staff writer Aaron Sharockman contributed to this report. Casey Cora can be reached at 727 892-2374 or ccora@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 19, 2007, 01:45:03]