By Paul Davis - Providence Journal Staff Writer
Mike MacEwen, takes down the American flag that flies at Camp Runamuck Monday after lawyers representing the group lost a last-minute appeal to stay in a Providence park.The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski
PROVIDENCE — After sleeping in a city park for a month, the homeless men and women at Camp Runamuck Monday packed for a new home: a strip of land next to the Social Security Administration building in Pawtucket.
Late in the afternoon, the group began piling tents and boxes into a U-Haul trailer rented by the advocacy group People to End Homelessness.
The homeless chose the Pawtucket building, at 55 Broad St., because it’s on a federal list of properties “that can be used to help the homeless,” said Meagan Smith, a spokeswoman for the camp.
The group plans to also seek help from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Smith said.
The homeless had hoped to stay longer in the wooded area behind the Roger Williams Medical Center.
But on Monday morning, Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice William P. Robinson III denied a last-minute appeal by two lawyers for the homeless, forcing the group to move by 5 p.m.
Providence officials say sleeping and cooking in the city’s more than 100 parks is illegal.
“It’s moving day –– again,” said Barbara Kalil, a 50-year-old former nurse who has slept in hotels, emergency shelters and under a bridge in the last few years.
Half-hidden by trees and shade, Kalil stacked her stuff in two tubs: a Bible, talcum powder, a vanity mirror, an Agatha Christie novel and folded clothes. She used masking tape to repair the cracks in one tub. “It really does get old,” said Kalil, who is trying to get a job with the Providence Performing Arts Center.
Kalil blamed Mayor David N. Cicilline for not finding rooms and homes for the city’s growing homeless population.
“He has buried his head in the sand,” said Kalil. “He thinks this homeless thing is going away, but it’s not going away. We’re in an economic depression. The emergency shelters are full. There’s nowhere to go.”
The move is the third for the group. Six months ago, Kalil and others pitched their tents on state land near South Water Street in Providence. Under pressure from officials, the group moved to East Providence and slept beneath a Route 195 bridge. Threatened again with eviction, the group left and moved back to Providence on Labor Day weekend.
Since then, supporters and church groups have dropped off food and water at the park, Kalil said. Over the weekend, the nine campers erected a large blue tarp between trees to create a community room dubbed “the patio.”
“We could play cards and cover our meals in the rain,” Kalil said.
Catherine Rhodes, a spokeswoman for the People to End Homelessness, made three signs with a black marker and cardboard, and placed them on the edge of the park, facing the street.
“Mr. Mayor, This Could Be You!” read one.
“Is this the final solution!” read another.
“Homeless people are always on the move,” Rhodes said. “Once they’re spotted, they move on. The tent cities are just bigger and easier to spot. They’ll keep moving until they find housing. The problem is … there is no housing,” she said.
“The governor needs to declare a national emergency and apply for federal help. I equate this with the Great Depression, when people lost jobs and homes and moved around the country.”
Late in the afternoon, the group began piling tents and boxes into a U-Haul trailer rented by the advocacy group People to End Homelessness.
The homeless chose the Pawtucket building, at 55 Broad St., because it’s on a federal list of properties “that can be used to help the homeless,” said Meagan Smith, a spokeswoman for the camp.
The group plans to also seek help from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Smith said.
The homeless had hoped to stay longer in the wooded area behind the Roger Williams Medical Center.
But on Monday morning, Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice William P. Robinson III denied a last-minute appeal by two lawyers for the homeless, forcing the group to move by 5 p.m.
Providence officials say sleeping and cooking in the city’s more than 100 parks is illegal.
“It’s moving day –– again,” said Barbara Kalil, a 50-year-old former nurse who has slept in hotels, emergency shelters and under a bridge in the last few years.
Half-hidden by trees and shade, Kalil stacked her stuff in two tubs: a Bible, talcum powder, a vanity mirror, an Agatha Christie novel and folded clothes. She used masking tape to repair the cracks in one tub. “It really does get old,” said Kalil, who is trying to get a job with the Providence Performing Arts Center.
Kalil blamed Mayor David N. Cicilline for not finding rooms and homes for the city’s growing homeless population.
“He has buried his head in the sand,” said Kalil. “He thinks this homeless thing is going away, but it’s not going away. We’re in an economic depression. The emergency shelters are full. There’s nowhere to go.”
The move is the third for the group. Six months ago, Kalil and others pitched their tents on state land near South Water Street in Providence. Under pressure from officials, the group moved to East Providence and slept beneath a Route 195 bridge. Threatened again with eviction, the group left and moved back to Providence on Labor Day weekend.
Since then, supporters and church groups have dropped off food and water at the park, Kalil said. Over the weekend, the nine campers erected a large blue tarp between trees to create a community room dubbed “the patio.”
“We could play cards and cover our meals in the rain,” Kalil said.
Catherine Rhodes, a spokeswoman for the People to End Homelessness, made three signs with a black marker and cardboard, and placed them on the edge of the park, facing the street.
“Mr. Mayor, This Could Be You!” read one.
“Is this the final solution!” read another.
“Homeless people are always on the move,” Rhodes said. “Once they’re spotted, they move on. The tent cities are just bigger and easier to spot. They’ll keep moving until they find housing. The problem is … there is no housing,” she said.
“The governor needs to declare a national emergency and apply for federal help. I equate this with the Great Depression, when people lost jobs and homes and moved around the country.”
