Tharros Village is preparing to open for its first nine-month season.
Tharros Village originally opened in fall of 2024 for just a few months before Code Purple shelters came back online that winter and opened again for a short spurt in 2025.
When Tharros Village reopens this spring, those involved say it will deliver several upgrades, which have been in the works for months.
During previous years, guests stayed in recreation tents meant for short term camping. This year, larger, heavier tents will be used.
John Urbanski is Secretary/Treasurer of the Tharros Village Board.
“We had two situations last summer where we had very large windstorms, and a number of the tents blew down.” he said.
When that severe weather hit last year during Hurricane Erin, and again during an early fall nor’easter, volunteers had to help residents evacuate the site.
Urbanksi says that should not be necessary this year.
“These tents should withstand any kind of bad weather that we have. And, they should last for multiple years.” he said.
The Village can accommodate 28 residents- the newly upgraded 68-pound tents meant for semi-permanent residence are assembled on top of raised wood pallets to prevent flood damage. The entire assembly weighs close to 1,100 lbs.
That equipment's weight is what makes it crucial that Tharros be allowed to leave equipment on-site during off season months, said Tharros officials.
Tharros has already gotten permission to do so from the state, but is currently awaiting a vote from Sussex to mirror that allowance on the county level.
In addition to the new tents, Tharros officials say they are adding electric power facilities to the site to allow more services to be offered on site.
Site director Mike Agnew says their sister location, Code Purple at the Cape, saw over 80 unique visitors during the winter months. He expects many of them will apply to Camp Tharros.
“Not all of them will be accepted, because there are some requirements. There’s no alcohol, no drug use, there’s curfews, there’s rules here that apply and are enforced- they have to go to case management on a regular basis: twice a month, once in person and once virtually, with our First State Community Action.” he says.
Those rules are even more important now given the longer season, says Agnew, and are a piece of what sets them apart from other shelters.
And Deputy Mayor of Lewes Khalil Saliba agrees,
"The strength of this site [are that] it's temporary housing that combines with compassion and accountability." he said. "People that are coming here have jobs, their volunteering, they're doing a number of things to ensure that they transition to permanent housing"
Saliba says that he views Tharros Village as an asset to the City of Lewes, and believes that it's a valuable option to the homeless population of the town,
"In fact, the City of Lewes invested in this site by donating $30,000 for the purchase of the site fence. We felt that, even though Tharros Village isn't within city limits, it serves our community"
Saliba says that he would hope to see a long-term lease granted to Tharros for the grounds moving forward.
Code Purple shelters close on March 15th. Agnew says the original plan was to have Tharros open the same day, but snowstorms this winter delayed work, pushing the opening date back into early April.
In the meantime, Code Purple guests will be given camping gear upon their departure, according to Agnew. He says that they do not have an arranged spot for those individuals to camp, however.
