RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A meeting was held in Richmond on Wednesday to discuss the future of Cathy’s Camp, a homeless tent city located on Oliver Hill Way. Advocates for the city’s homeless population claimed officials are trying to shut down the camp and push people with nowhere else to go out.

Community members gathered for Wednesday’s meeting as the city acknowledged it needs more shelters to help the homeless. While no path forward was established, the heated meeting brought clarity to an immediate concern: Cathy’s Camp is not going anywhere for now.

Cathy’s Camp has grown since it opened in November. Kevin White is just one of about 100 people living in tents at the camp.

“Being homeless has been a very humbling experience,” White told 8News.

The tents at the camp sit behind the building used as a cold weather shelter when temperatures in Richmond dip below 40 degrees. It’s also across the street from the city jail.

“Those prisoners over there are better taken care of and they’ve killed people. We’re doing nothing out here wrong,” White said.

Sixth District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson told the packed meeting that city officials were not trying to do away with Cathy’s Camp.

“This meeting is not for the purpose of shutting down anything,” Robertson said.

Volunteers with the non-profit Blessing Warriors RVA, a community group helping with Cathy’s Camp, say city leaders sent them a letter to remove the tents in December. The city has also put up no trespassing signs just feet from the tents, even though records show the property belongs to Virginia Commonwealth University.

Richmond’s administrator for human services, Reginald Gordon, would not take back his order to remove the tents.

“We did not come here today to move people off but this is not an appropriate location to stay here indefinitely,” Gordon said Wednesday.

The city did acknowledge a need for more shelters in Richmond, saying a “strategic plan to end homelessness” is being presented to City Council. Despite the rain and cold weather on Wednesday, White said that he’s thankful for his tent.

“They don’t want us to sleep on the streets, they don’t want us sleeping on the benches, they don’t want us sleeping in front of the social services building,” White explained. “Where can we sleep at?”

Hours after the meeting, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s office released a statement to say, in part:

“While we have significant concerns for the health and safety of those living in the encampment, until a longer term solution is identified, we will work closely with these service providers to have a presence, on-site, at the Cold Weather Overflow Shelter so we can help connect those currently living there with available resources and more stable housing as quickly as possible.”

There is no word if the city will remove the “no trespassing” signs near the encampment.

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