FLINT, Michigan

— For two weeks, Erin Erwin worked at a bank by day and

at night.

Her conscience, she said, eventually got the better of her and she quit her job, dedicating herself to the growing protest movement.

“I had to put on the monkey suit (at work) and I’d have to take a deep breath and say ‘If you want to keep your job, do what they say,’ ” said Erwin, 21, of Mt. Morris Township.

“When I got out of work, I’d come here. And this is where my heart is.”

Erwin is one of about 10 people who now spend their nights

.

Dozens more rotate in and out of the group’s expanding encampment to publicly voice their opinions on economic disparity.

The group of Occupy protesters has camped out on a private lot on King Street and 2nd Avenue for more than three weeks now, and its members appear increasingly resolved to stick it out through winter.

The encampment has gotten bigger and more organized, and there is talk of further pushing the envelope.

While violent clashes with authorities have taken place at Occupy demonstrations in other cities around the country, the Flint movement has so far remained peaceful.

Unlike other groups around the country that have taken over public parks, the Flint group has set up its base on private land and has peacefully protested outside the downtown Bank of America branch.

Members, however, say acts of civil disobedience are in the works.

“We’re just waiting on reaching a group consensus on what to do next,” said Erwin, treasurer of the group.

The group declined to elaborate on specifics but members said plans could include occupying public areas to intensify their impact and garner more attention.

“We can’t just sit here and continue on as the coolest people in town,” said Adam Gerics, 37, of Flint.

“We have an obligation to the Occupy movement.”

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the Occupy group has been community oriented with its support of local charities and connections with local neighborhood associations.

“I hope they continue to keep a focus on the needs of the community and don’t burden the city’s public safety system with unnecessary acts,” said Walling.

Zach Wolfin, a security guard who keeps watch outside downtown bars near the daily protest site, said the group has kept it’s demonstrations legal and without incident.

But Wolfin said he has seen a change in the group’s tactics.

On Wednesday, a large group that had been protesting outside the bank walked down the middle of Saginaw Street instead of the sidewalk on its return to camp.

Wolfin thought the move, which very briefly slowed traffic, went a step too far.

He said he supports the group’s right to demonstrate, but doesn’t see the purpose.

“The idea that 1 percent of the population should control 99 percent of the wealth, that’s ridiculous,” said Wolfin, 21, “But this protesting they’re doing without any purpose, that’s ridiculous. What’s the point of standing out here saying ‘I’m angry?’

“What change are poor people going to make to the rich, realistically?”

Devin Graham of Ypsilanti joined the Flint group after spending a week in New York among the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

“What we’re doing here is raising consciousness about the way things are going,” said Graham, 18, as members protested at Saginaw and First streets this week.

They carried signs with slogans like “I’ll stand up for you until you wake.”

He said while their counterparts in New York are demonstrating against what they call nationwide financial injustice, Flint protesters are looking to take on specific issues with local significance like housing foreclosures, homelessness and environment.

At the encampment, about 15 tents surround several large canopies that house a supply center, cooking space and a stockpile of herbal medicines they call the apothecary. The group uses solar panels to charge laptops and cell phones.

They recycle, are constantly picking up trash and plan on making a statue of empty water bottles.

Members of the group see maintaining the living space as setting an example for sustainability, responsibility and unity.

Several carry guns and work in shifts to keep the area secure.

Rob Quarters of Flint had his doubts about the group when he was first introduced to it by a friend.

But the lifestyle grew on him.

“I wasn’t really sure what to think of it because there was no clear goal,” said Quarters, 20. “But then I realized there doesn’t need to be. It’s all about unity.”

Flint Journal staff writer Kristin Longley contributed to this report.