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Invisible Visible
In their own words:
How the global pandemic COVID-19 affects one of our most fragile and at-risk populations:
the homeless citizens of the United States of America
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
August, 2020
Pennsylvania Homeless Population 2020: est. 13,199
Philadelpia, Pennsylvaia
August, 2020
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Wedged between the Philadelphia Police Department and the Rodin Museum, this Housing Now homeless encampment has taken over the park at Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 22nd Street. Their demands are permanent housing, and this group feels this outdoor encampment is safer from COVID-19 than a shelter. Mayor Jim Kenney is trying to resolve the situation amicably, and wants to avoid another sweep (police deconstructing homeless encampments) in the city. This residents of this unsanctioned 'tent city' are considered dangerous, and local residents are advised to avoid this area.
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There are ANTIFA supporters in this homeless encampment located in the Von Colln Memorial Fields near the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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At a homeless encampment in Philadelphia located near the Rodin Museum, junk food and sugar drink packaging does not always make it into the garbage or recycling bins. As a result, the encampment and sidewalks around it are filled with litter which blows into the streets with the slightest breeze.
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A member of the homeless camp that lies next to the Rodin Museum in downtown Philadelphia sells flowers from his tent.
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Black Lives Matter banners are hung throughout the homeless encampment in the Von Colln Memorial Field near the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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This unsanctioned homeless encampment was conceived in protest of shelters charging too much money for a nightly bed. This group demands affordable housing which the city is striving for.
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Portable toilets have been brought in to ease the burden of people littering the streets with human waste. The smell of the came is not something that is easy to forget.
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Many of the homeless who are living in this unsanctioned encampment in Philadelphia have amenities such as grills for cooking.
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Crowded and dirty, the homeless encampment at Ben Franklin and 22nd Street is unsanctioned by the city of Philadelphia.
Sweeps: Residents of tent cities or encampments are terrified of 'sweeps' where the city or county tear down their camps. Residents feel safer from diseases such as COVID-19 if they are contained in an encampment, and refuse to take shelter in buildings such as the Salvation Army where they feel the virus will spread faster. They also are upset with the fees of $6 or $7 per night per bed.
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Passing the time by reading in the homeless encampment at Ben Franklin and 22nd in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
August, 2020
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