‘Zero sense’: Wilmington’s unhoused question city’s moves after mandated tents leave them soaking wet during rainstorm

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The city of Wilmington is assessing its next steps after a heavy rain soaked through newly city-issued tents to unhoused people living in Christina Park.

Mayor John Carney’s office and the site manager, the nonprofit organization Friendship House, placed about 20 wooden platforms in a grid along one side of the park on Wednesday and then erected the lightweight tents on top.

But a downpour just hours later drenched the fabric and soaked the platforms, leaving several unhoused residents of the Eastside park cold and wet as they emerged from the city-bought tents. The tents were visibly wet Thursday morning.

Already a tent village, the city is allowing people to sleep in Christina Park as part of a long-term plan to address rising homelessness. But a mandate requiring the unhoused to move out of their own tents into the city ones, along with other strict rules, is angering residents and activists and led to confrontations Wednesday.

New tents prove to be not waterproof

Michael, who lives in the homeless encampment at Christina Park, said he spent a sleepless first night in a city-issued tent as water seeped through the fabric.

“The bottom and the sides came in,” Michael said, who asked for only his first name to be used. “The floor [is] wet right down there under my mattress. My coats got wet. I don’t have no coat to put on right now.”

Michael said he needed a tent, so he signed up for one from Wilmington city officials. He said officials told him the tent was waterproof and could handle storms.

“They said all-year round,” he said. “But then I’m looking like … This is not waterproof. If it was, water wouldn’t be coming through and my clothes wouldn’t be wet.”

Carney’s office says it was told they were waterproof, which means impervious to water. But the tents are listed online as being water-resistant, which amounts to a basic protection against rain events.

New rules anger park residents and housing advocates

The downpour capped off a tense Wednesday as officials with the mayor’s office and Friendship House began moving Christina Park residents out of their personal tents and into city-issued tents.

The new rules require all park residents to move into city tents erected on the wooden platforms. Residents’ tents and all belongings, except for a chair and bike, must fit inside the tent or be stored in a city facility, or they will be thrown away.

The city’s refusal to allow residents who already have their own tents to continue using them drew outrage from members of the unhoused park community and activists. Activists and University of Delaware students stood in front of the forklift at different points Wednesday to block it from laying down the wood platforms.

Araina Burgette said she stayed dry in her own tent on the opposite side of the park because it is waterproof, raising concerns about the durability of the city’s equipment even in modest winds.

“Nobody’s stuff is destroyed over on our side with our tents, but the tents they put up the other day with a wind that’s not even over 20 miles an hour are destroyed,” she said. “We woke up and saw destruction with the tents they put up.”

Wilmington officials have drawn grids on one side of the park, giving each person a 15-foot-by-15-foot rectangle of space. They are placing wooden platforms in the rectangles and erecting the city tents on top of the wood. About 20 were put in place on Wednesday, with more planned to be installed over the coming days.

Jerry Alford appeared spent after working for much of Wednesday setting up his things in his new city tent. The 67-year-old says he has multiple chronic health conditions, including cancer.

Alford called his new housing situation “fantastic” until he learned the makeshift table in front of his tent may violate the city’s rule against items outside of the tent that are not a chair or a bike.

“Why?” he asked. “What that hurt?”

The contract between the city and Friendship House, signed in January, said the plots would be 20 feet by 20 feet, and the tents would be 10 feet by 10 feet. Carney’s office revised the terms a day before tents started to be installed at the park, but Friendship House CEO Kim Eppehimer said they have not signed off on any revisions in writing.

Christina Park resident Rob Walker said the changes the city made just before implementing its new rules have caused distrust.

“We were promised different sized tents, and the ones that were presented were not we were promised,” he said. “We were promised 10-by-10 [foot] tents. Even though it’s bad enough that they’re very small in size, these type of tents are not going to survive the weather. The way they’re going about it makes zero sense, and the material they brought is even worse.”

The mayor’s office said residents have to abide by the rules or risk being removed from the park or arrested. An unhoused park resident, who goes by Prince, said he’s concerned about the city trying to take his belongings.

“If they try touching my stuff, somebody’s gonna get hurt,” he said.

Aesthetic of encampment is important to nearby communities, city says

To ensure uniformity, officials are placing wooden platforms and tents into a grid of rectangles on one side of the park.

Cerron Cade, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the same tents make the encampment look nicer — a concern of nearby neighborhoods.

“The component of the community that’s out here who is asking for it to be more aesthetically acceptable than what was existing prior, they don’t like the random scattering of tents,” he said. “So the component of making sure they all look alike plays a role in that.”

Cade said the grid layout would also make it easier for first responders to assist people in a medical emergency.

Rain is expected again in the coming days. It was unclear how the city of Wilmington plans to move forward with implementing its new park rules in the face of upcoming inclement weather. A Carney spokesperson said they’ve ordered tarps for the tents and are considering waterproofing the platforms. But many park residents said they just want to be left alone.