Why Should Delaware Care?
In recent years, the unhoused community in Wilmington has grown in size and in its need. In response, Mayor John Carney introduced a short-term plan to convert an Eastside park into the only sanctioned city area for its unhoused population. The city now expects the park to be fully operational within the next four months.
Wilmington says its only city-sanctioned park for the homeless will finally get bathrooms next week.
It will also get showers and social services within the next four months, the city said.
On Tuesday, the City of Wilmington announced that it is partnering with the Friendship House to bring in the long awaited bathrooms, and to oversee the Christina Park homeless encampment more broadly.
The camp has grown to include dozens of tents since last fall when Mayor John Carney designated it as the only legal site for the city’s unhoused population to camp.
The Friendship House, which currently runs day centers and transitional housing for the unhoused throughout New Castle County, will be in charge of providing case management, donation coordination, cleaning and sanitation services, and increased security at the park.
The Wilmington Police Department will also patrol the park on an as-needed basis, a city spokeswoman said.
A three-stall portable restroom is set to be delivered to the park on Jan. 12, according to an email that Carney’s Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Walker sent to city council members on Monday.
In the email, Walker also noted that shower services will be supported through donations from a nonprofit – called 1 in 7B Foundation – that provides mobile outreach for homeless people. The mobile showers will open in April. Until then, Walker said the city is trying to find other locations where people living at the park can shower.
As of now, the Friendship House allows individuals to use their shower locations in Wilmington, but only on Saturdays.
Caroline Klinger, a spokeswoman for the mayor, confirmed to Spotlight Delaware that the city signed a six-month contract with Friendship House to oversee the park, which took effect on Monday. She also said that city officials expect the contract to be extended.
Friendship House CEO Kim Eppehimer said her organization “felt a responsibility to step forward” and take on the city contract, saying it aligns with its mission.
“As the population at Christina Park has grown, it became clear that what was needed was not enforcement or displacement, but structure, consistency, and access to care,” Eppehimer said in a statement to Spotlight Delaware.
Klinger also confirmed that the city wants to use $214,800 from a pot of money derived from settlements that the Delaware Department of Justice previously reached with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
While the city intends to dip into the opioid fund, its use of the dollars still must be approved by members of the Delaware Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission. Brad Owens, director of the commission, told Spotlight Delaware that its members are currently speaking with the city about its application for the funds.
This year is the first that cities in Delaware will receive dollars from the opioid commission. Wilmington is set to receive over $440,000.
Friendship House to bring services
Last month, people living in the Christina Park encampment told Spotlight Delaware about the conditions they face throughout the winter, including a lack of transportation to Code Purple sites during frigid temperatures and access to bathrooms.
Ron “Philly” Simmons, who lives in the park, said then that people living in the park had to use buckets to relieve themselves or make the 20-minute walk to the Wilmington train station or to the Sunday Breakfast Mission – the only homeless shelter in downtown Wilmington.
“You have to train your body to be able to do that,” Simmons told Spotlight Delaware last month. “Or you go in a bucket somewhere up here, or you take your chances behind a tree.”
Under the agreement, the Friendship House is responsible for coordinating regular cleaning and sanitation to keep the park maintained, installing security cameras, and connecting people on-site with social services, such as job training, housing navigation, mental health support and substance-use counseling.
The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation also will provide trash pickup three times a week and full-scale cleanings will take place on a bi-weekly basis.
Only 100 tents will be allowed at the site, according to a report from WHYY. As of Tuesday, roughly 30 tents are already set up in the park.
Klinger noted that clean water will be provided to the park, but said the city is still determining the “best path forward” to address that need.
The Friendship House also manages a Code Purple winter shelter initiative in New Castle County and will refer people at the park to those shelters when temperatures drop.
No children will be allowed to stay at the Eastside Park, and families with children will instead be prioritized for shelter beds, Eppehimer said.
Carney’s homelessness plan
In October, Carney announced that he would limit the city’s homeless population to Christina Park in the city’s Eastside, where tents have already existed.
The park encampment, which has now been coined “tent city,” is a part of the mayor’s two-part interim plan that stemmed from recent recommendations submitted by the city’s Homelessness Task Force — a public body Carney established early last year to develop strategies to serve the unhoused population.
In addition to creating the park encampment, the city has partnered with the Wilmington Housing Authority and the Ministry of Caring and opened a dining hall for the homeless at the WHA’s former operations center. The center sits about a block from Christina Park.
The dining hall will offer meals and connections to supportive services.
The city plans to expand the dining hall’s capacity to operate as a day center, offering additional resources, such as case management and referrals to housing, health care, and employment services.
Carney previously received backlash from Eastside residents who said they were told about the plan after it was already publicly announced. Some worried about losing public space as the park was becoming crowded, while others questioned why the city couldn’t create its own shelter.
The mayor’s office has maintained that creating and maintaining official shelters is a state operation.
Christina Park’s piers and gazebos will continue to be open for public use.
Encampment residents react to changes
Those living at Christina Park say the city is taking the right steps toward helping those living in the encampment.
Simmons, who has been living in the park on and off for the past two years, told Spotlight that he and a few others currently act as the park’s informal security. He said some park residents won’t like having additional security and police, but he believes it’s necessary.
“It’s not about what they like. It’s for their safety,” he said.
At the same time, Simmons said he will continue to act as the camp security and will also be watching the police.
What is ultimately important, he said, is that people do not get comfortable living in the park, asserting that living there is “no way to live.”