URI Psych Club brings relief to Providence's 'Tent City'

02/18/09 - Beneath the Providence Crawford Street Bridge, on nearby streets lined with shops and busy with passing cars, is a shocking sight: a dozen camping tents assembled atop trampled pieces of cardboard and matted down grass called "Tent City." The members of Tent City are some of the many Providence residents who have recently become homeless, and they sit crowded in these tents, too small for them to stand in.

There are approximately 20 Tent City residents from night to night, many of whom are young men and women between 18 and 29-years-old.

Friday, these individuals had company from the University of Rhode Island Psychology Club, which arrived carrying dozens of bags of food and clothes from its recent donation drive. The club collected donated blankets, clothing, food and money directly from the URI community.

Through the help of Tom Dougan, director of student affairs, and Chip Yensan, director of Housing and Residential Life, the group set up clothing and food donation boxes in student dorms and sororities for more than a week.

The idea came from professor Susan Boatright, director of the Undergraduate Program in psychology and the club's faculty sponsor, after she saw a story about Tent City on the news.

"One of the things we wanted to do last year was Welcome City [a local soup kitchen,]" president of the club, Jenlyn Furey, said. "We wanted to do that on a larger scale this year."

The URI students and faculty were generous with cash donations, as well. The Dean of Arts and Sciences, Winifred Brownell, helped solicit aid from faculty, including members of the education, language and psychology departments.

The Chi Omega sorority also donated $100 to the fundraiser, and helped organize the clothing donations.

Last week, the club held a drawing at the Memorial Union, where students could donate money for a chance to win a blanket from the URI bookstore.

In total, the group collected $385 in cash donations, which they then used to purchase much-needed essentials such as toiletries, bottled water and food.

"As a club, we're always interested in volunteering," Furey said. "With the economy, everyone has been affected. It's important, especially at this time of year when it's getting so cold."

After collecting the donations, the group drove to Tent City to deliver the food and clothing.

The students unloaded the numerous bags, and stacked them in a makeshift kitchen area, which consisted of a few plastic lawn chairs positioned around a donated barbeque and a folding table with a small camping stove.

This gave the students the opportunity to survey the campsite, which was bitterly cold in the late afternoon. Only a few days prior, there was a tarp strung across the concrete bottom of the bridge to block the wind, but local police had Tent City residents take it down.

In the back, behind the three tents that serve as storage, is a portapotty, a donation from a local church. This is the members of Tent City's only bathroom-there is no shower.

At the front of this cluster of tents is a cross, made of pieces of stone and concrete, situated carefully in the dirt.

John Joyce, an advocate for the Homeless People's Action Committee, said the cross is a memorial for Paul Langlais, a homeless man who died alone, under the very same bridge.

His loss inspired the creation of Tent City.

Rather than a person having to fend for himself, Tent City provides a community for people facing the same situation and a safety in numbers.

"It's important for the youth of America to see this," she added. Joyce said many youth might have a preconceived notion of what "homeless" means, and what the face of the homeless look like.

"It's not a stereotypical male with an addiction that is out here," he said.

The Psych Club students got to see this firsthand, as the members of Tent City met with them to talk about their experience.

Some of the men and women openly approached the club members, some who were as young as 21. Many shared a similar story, one of years of holding down jobs and homes, only to be crippled by unexpected economic circumstances.

Despite their tough economic circumstances, the members of Tent City seemed eager to talk to the students and tell their own stories. One woman still volunteers at a church to help others in need even though she is struggling.

One of the most talkative Tent City residents, a former foster child who had done seven tours in Vietnam, was once a student at URI.

"I was surprised people opened up so much," club member Kayla Reynolds said. "I hope this creates an awareness."

At the end of the nearly two-hour excursion, the students left, some hugging and shaking hands with the members of Tent City. The Psych Club was left shaken by the experience, but appreciated that their work would make an impact.

"This is an incredible group of students, very giving and motivated," Boatright said.