Carney defends imminent Christina Park closure, outlines next steps

Why Should Delaware Care?
In recent years, the unhoused community in Wilmington has grown in size. In response, Mayor John Carney introduced a plan to convert an Eastside park into the only city-sanctioned encampment. Last month, pushback to city mandates at the encampment sparked protests and criticism against Carney’s oversight of the park. Now, officials have decided to close down the encampment.  

Wilmington is set to close a city-sanctioned homeless encampment at Christina Park today.

The closure will end an eight-month experiment that city officials say helped connect dozens of unhoused residents with housing and support services. But questions remain about what will happen to the residents still living at the park afterward.

City officials emphasized that overnight camping in public parks generally is unlawful. While they made an exception for Christina Park over the past eight months, they city’s goal is to have residents of the encampment out of the Eastside park by sunset. 

On Thursday, Mayor John Carney held a press conference to discuss the closure of Christina Park, as well as next steps for the city’s homeless policies.

“Despite the end of overnight camping in the city, our commitment to the work is ongoing,” he said. 

Carney and other city officials said they were shutting down the encampment because they always intended it to be temporary, and because neighbors had urged officials to return the park to its previous state. 

According to a recent city notice provided to the encampment residents, portions of Christina Park will close to the general public on June 15. The entire park will be closed June 16-25 for a clean up.

Carney’s remarks Thursday came as the mayor faced mounting criticism from city council members, housing advocates and park residents who have argued the city is moving too quickly to close the encampment before long-term solutions become available.

Earlier this month, the Wilmington City Council passed a resolution urging Carney to “immediately halt any forced removal” plans at Christina Park “until a comprehensive, humane, and adequately funded transition plan is fully operational.”

The Carney administration also drew criticism in past months for its oversight of the encampment, with housing advocates and unhoused individuals claiming the city had not provided promised services and had imposed burdensome rules.

Carney’s announcement of the closure, made in early May, came as a surprise to many advocates, park residents and even city council members, largely because it followed the city’s decision to spend nearly $60,000 to install large pallets and new tents for unhoused residents at the park. 

Asked during Thursday’s press conference why he put the pallets in with only weeks left before announcing the camp’s closure, Carney responded, “we thought it was the right thing to do.”

Pressed whether he is concerned people will begin camping in other areas of Wilmington, Carney said city officials will “cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“We do need support from the (Delaware) Attorney General in terms of if there’s a need for a prosecution. I don’t intend or want to have to prosecute folks for this, but they’re violating the law, if they’re camping in a park after dark,” he said.

Still, Carney said the city will try to avoid arresting people sleeping in public spaces after the Christina Park closure.

Daniel Walker, Carney’s deputy chief of staff, said the city established the tent site to provide a consolidated place where unhoused people can go for resources, and to decrease the number of people sleeping on our streets across the city. 

Coordinating those services, Carney admitted, “took longer than expected.”

Shyanne Miller, an advocate who has worked with residents at the park, questioned why any portion of Christina Park would be closed to the public on the day residents are expected to move out, positing that residents, advocates or members of the press could unknowingly violate those rules.

“It’s not clear what’s going to happen to people … or where people are allowed to be in the park,” she said.

Progress for the unhoused at Christina Park

Carney first announced his plan to use Christina Park as a temporary encampment for the city’s unhoused back in October. In January, the city contracted with the nonprofit Friendship House to manage the encampment and connect residents with services. 

Since January, Walker said 85 people have accessed various services at Christina Park.

Of those, 49 people have been placed into stable housing, treatment or rehabilitation programs, emergency housing, independent housing or with friends and family.

He expected three additional people to be placed into the housing by the end of last week, bringing the total to 52.

The placements include 25 people at the Hope Center, where the Delaware State Housing Authority is covering stays for up to six months. 

Another 10 people have entered treatment or rehabilitation centers, where the length of stay varies by program. Four people have moved into long-term independent housing, meaning they are living in their own unit or with a roommate and paying rent, the city said.

Two others have been placed in independent housing programs with case management, while eight have been placed with supportive friends or family.

Two people at the park were arrested, Walker said.

That leaves 31 people remaining at Christina Park as of the city’s latest count. Twelve have accepted case management services, the remaining 19 individuals “have not accepted or chosen to engage with us,” Walker said. 

“We will continue to offer them assistance and follow up even beyond June 15,” he said.

Officials at the Wilmington Housing Authority also say they will link people leaving the park with housing options at the nonprofits, YMCA and Sojourners’ Place, and with private landlords willing to rent rooms.

Ray Fitzgerald, executive director of Wilmington Housing Authority, also said his agency has limited hotel vouchers and plans to provide case management, clinical support, job training and employment opportunities. 

Residents at the park will also be able to store their personal belongings for 90 days in a Wilmington Housing Authority-owned warehouse on Fourth Street in the city.

Miller, the housing advocate, expressed concerns about the city’s storage plans, questioning how someone who gets admitted to a program for longer than 90 days would be able to retrieve their belongings afterward.  

Update on other recommendations 

Carney’s sanctioning of the park encampment in October was a part of an interim housing plan that followed recommendations from a city Homelessness Task Force — a public body Carney established early last year to develop policies for the unhoused population.

Beyond the encampment, the city also partnered with the Wilmington Housing Authority and the Ministry of Caring to open a dining hall and day center for the homeless. The center sits about a block from Christina Park.

Carney said the city has secured $1 million from the state’s capital budget for the dining hall, along with half of the funding for the day center. The city’s goal is to complete the facility by the end of this year, Fitzgerald said.

City officials are also in ongoing discussions with Springboard Delaware about potentially bringing a tiny home village to Wilmington, but are struggling to find a location. Residents of the Eastside and Southbridge have expressed their opposition to placing such a village in their neighborhoods. 

The Carney administration said the City Council must select a location for the tiny-home village before July 1. If the city misses the deadline, the project could lose $1.6 million in federal COVID-era dollars dedicated for the village. 

Carney noted that finding ongoing funding for the operations of the tiny village also remains an unresolved question.