The tents in the sylvan space next to St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church are down, but that doesn't mean that the Baltimore congregation - famous for defying city officials who wanted to eliminate the grimy encampment of homeless men and women just blocks from the Inner Harbor - is backing down completely.
Homeless men and women will continue to sleep in the park at the foot of the Jones Falls Expressway, according to a memorandum of understanding between the city and the church, but they will not be allowed to set up tents - even in winter. Also, members of the church have invited city officials to regularly visit the park, which it owns, to try to help homeless men and women move into permanent housing and get drug treatment and medical care.
"What we are hoping is that [the park] can be a portal of entry into housing and the whole treatment system," said the Rev. Richard T. Lawrence, pastor of the church, who has long defended the rights of homeless men and women to congregate on its property.
City officials stress that homeless people who come to the park will not be guaranteed housing. Rather, they say they will work with those who inhabit the park, sometimes called "Bum Park" because of its reputation as a magnet for the homeless, to find shelter.
"It's the first time that we are working really well together," said Diane Glauber, head of city's Homeless Services division. "It's the start of a good relationship."
The agreement with the church, which is known for its social activism, didn't come easy. Lawrence and his flock have stood firm for years against city officials who complained that the camp of homeless people was an eyesore.
Church members believed that they should continue to offer shelter under the park's trees to those who needed it until the city had a viable answer to homelessness. The answer, as it turns out, is the city's Housing First initiative, which has been used in recent months to house homeless people from several camps, including a large one under the Jones Falls Expressway on Guilford Avenue.
"We will encourage [city officials] to come into the park and get the guys housing," Lawrence said. "That is what we are going to do. What they are going to do is they are agreeing not to pressure us to close the park."
