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Pinellas' New Tent City Gives A Temporary Home To Homeless

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By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Earlier this year, the city's homeless were bouncing from place to place, moving their tents and tattered belongings from one makeshift campsite to another.

Starting today, they have a chance to put down some roots, at least for the next five months.

Organizers of Pinellas Hope, a government-sanctioned tent city, expect to see about 100 homeless people when it opens this morning, and eventually as many as 250.

The short-term housing experiment, paid for with more than $1 million in public and private dollars and services, is a response to the tent-slashing incident in January, when St. Petersburg police officers cut and seized tents deemed firetraps.
City leaders said many of the homeless have voluntarily committed to moving to the new tent city, which occupies 10 acres at the end of 126th Avenue, west of 49th Street North in mid-Pinellas County.

Mayor Rick Baker denied claims by some homeless advocates that police will use the encampment as a way to enforce city ordinances that prohibit people from sleeping on sidewalks and in rights of way if shelter space is available.

"The job of the police department is to enforce the law, but I'll have to tell you, I don't think that's going to be much of an issue," Baker said. "I think the homeless advocates who are trying to keep people in dependency will be able to convince some people to stay on the streets. But I think the vast majority of the homeless folks that we have talked to, that we are working with, want to come."

Most of the county's 5,000 homeless people are concentrated in St. Petersburg.

Rules at Pinellas Hope, to remain open until April 30, include no alcohol or drugs and a curfew. Residents also will have to undergo criminal background checks and agree to seek employment or apply for services to help them attain self-sufficiency.

At this week's homeless demonstration during the Republican presidential debate, homeless advocates Eric Rubin and the Rev. Bruce Wright demanded that Pinellas Hope refrain from conducting background checks on those who choose to live there.

The head of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington agrees, calling the practice "misguided."

"It reinforces the stereotype that homeless folks are part of the criminal population, which is simply not true," said Michael Stoops, the group's acting executive director.

The background checks are to ensure the safety of those living at the campsite, not to arrest more of the homeless, said Frank Murphy, president of Catholic Charities, which is running the tent city at the direction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Murphy said anyone with an outstanding warrant will not be accepted. Someone with a criminal history might still be allowed depending on the seriousness of the offense, he said.

Advocates also demanded that the tent city be co-governed by the homeless. Murphy said that won't happen but that their opinions will be sought.

"We'll try to take their input as much as we possibly can," Murphy said. "But they're not going to run it. We'll run it."

News Channel 8 Reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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