Wilmington will open a city-sanctioned unhoused community site at Christina Park as part of its plan to help Wilmington residents experiencing homelessness.
The city’s Homelessness Task Force sent its final recommendations to Mayor John Carney last month after meeting ten times since May.
The city’s plan includes short- and long-term strategies to help people experiencing homelessness.
One of the changes announced by Carney is to open Christina Park to unhoused people and provide clean water and restroom facilities to residents. That could include a shower.
“I also, as the mayor, I have an obligation to the rest of the city to run a city that's lawfully and orderly and respects their rights and quality of life, and striking that balance at times is challenging,” Carney said.
Right now, camping is not permitted outside of campsites, but Carney said that’s not always enforced in Wilmington’s parks. The Task Force advised Carney’s administration to open a city-owned park to the unhoused community before winter, but it also encouraged a longer term solution to be in place by winter.
“By the wintertime, there needs to either open up additional existing shelter beds – and there are some shelter beds in the state that aren't being utilized because they're at high barrier shelters,” Task Force Chair Claire DeMatteis said earlier this month. “Lower those barriers and get these folks inside.”
Carney said giving people a place to go at Christina Park is a starting point to provide more services compassionately in the city.
The Task Force recommendations also suggested opening a day center and a tiny home village like nonprofit Springboard Delaware’s in Georgetown.
The city still needs to come up with a comprehensive plan and timeline. Carney said the city is interested in a partnership with a nonprofit like Springboard Delaware, but it’s not currently in the works.
One of the concerns there, Carney says, is where to put the village.
“We will need somebody likely to help us manage Christina Park,” Carney said. “My big fear there is I don't want it to have the feel of permanency, right? That's a really hard thing to accomplish. And my guess is, just by saying it today, people will assume, ‘okay, that's it.’ I don't see that as the – I don't want that to be the final solution.”
The city also plans to develop a dining room at 600 4th Street, which is expected to cost about $1 million. While there is no plan to open a tiny home village like the one in Georgetown, Carney says he’s interested in pursuing the option.
City staff are still evaluating the feasibility of a day center.
Carney said his final goal in announcing this plan is to make project updates easily accessible to the public through the city’s website.
