Tent City II Draws Young & Not-So-Young

Ashley Sargent lives near Route 80. She sees a homeless woman there every day looking ​“sad” and holding two signs that say, ​“Please help me” and ​“Will work for money and food.” That woman inspired a unique field trip Thursday night.

Sargent (pictured second from right) is a seventh-grader at Elm City College Prep Middle School on Dixwell Avenue. She was one of 30 kids from the school who came out Thursday night to support Tent City on the Green, New Haven’s community fundraising effort to keep the overflow homeless shelter open through the winter.

Spearheaded this year by city government Community Services Administrator Chisara Asomugha, the event raised almost $40,000, about the same as last year. It brought out two dozen groups with colorful tents pitched around the stage at the Elm Street side of the Green.

Top city housing inspector Rafael Ramos emceed the evening. He also set up a dozen of the tents, courtesy of the summer youth camping program he runs.

Two to three hundred people passed through the event during its 6 – 10 p.m. run. Unlike last year’s event, which took place on a typically cold November night, this year’s was balmy, with the temperature in the mid-50s and none of the rain that had been forecast. So young and old enjoyed visiting on the Green and listening to the varied musical performers on stage. Pizza and coffee were served.

The money raised means the shelter can stay open through April 30, its normal closing date.

Elm City Prep students who turned out spoke about their past encounters with homeless people.

Eighth-grader Nathaly Roman (second from left in photo above) said one summer a homeless woman would stop by her grandmother’s house every day. ​“She would ask for food and my grandmother would make her a sandwich or something warm to give her. After the summer she came less and less, and after the winter she never showed up any more. So I think homelessness is a very serious problem; you never know if you’re going to make it through the day or not.”

Rhythm Campbell lives downtown. ​“There’s a lady across the street at the bus stop, and she’s there every day when I come home from school,” she said. ​“And I feel bad for her, because she’ll just be sittin’ there, singing to herself and stuff. And it’s kind of sad. That’s why I’m here to help.”

Eighth-grader Nasurae Lyons (on left in photo above) said she sees a group of homeless people with signs near her house on Fitch Street. She always gives them whatever money she has.

Peter Butler, a social worker at the school (pictured counting some of the $340 students and staff collected for the shelter), said he learned about last year’s Tent City at the last minute and was able to bring a few students down to the Green.

So this year he checked the city’s website and had more advance notice. He put the word out around school and quickly got 30 kids to sign up — the maximum number whom adult volunteers could bring by carpool. He said 20 to 30 more kids wanted to go, ​“but we couldn’t order a bus, because it’s too much money.”

The students had fun climbing in and out of the tents and running around the Green. One of them (pictured) crawled inside to do his math homework. One of them played drums on stage with Drums No Guns, while some others danced.

Butler was asked if he thought so many students wanted to come to Tent City because it was a fun night out or because they were concerned about homelessness. ​“It’s a little of both,” he said. ​“The idea of setting up a tent and spending a night on the Green [or at least until 8 p.m., when they had to leave] is kind of exciting. But they also did readings on homelessness to come here, and one of our teachers actually sponsored kids per page they read about homelessness.”

Alison Cunningham, the executive director of Columbus House, which also runs the overflow shelter, brought three shelter residents with her to Tent City (pictured left to right, Hector Torres, Charles G. — who did not give his full name — and Juan McFadden).

Torres said he’d been living with his girlfriend but they had a misunderstanding, ​“so now I’m trying to do something on my own. I didn’t want to hit her, so I went to the shelter; that’s better than going to jail.” He said Thursday was his lucky day: he got a job interview for the following day.

Charles had just left a drug treatment facility and was on his way to a year-long stay in a residential program run by Teen Challenge.

Juan McFadden had just left prison and got into the shelter through the efforts of a prison social worker. ​“While I was incarcerated I was worrying about where I would get my next meal from and where I was going to lay my head,” he said. ​“I really think the overflow program is beneficial to the homeless; it gives you a sense of hope and a sense of faith.”