Philly’s Camp Chloe houseless residents resist removal

Philadelphia

March 20. Camp Chloe is a community of 20 houseless people who have lived on a parcel of land in South Philadelphia next to the Delaware River Trail for years.

Last week, contractors carrying machetes and wearing hazmat suits, backed up by city police, attempted to evict them and dispose of their tents, tarps, blankets, personal items and other property. After four of their makeshift homes were taken down, residents and their supporters reached an agreement with the property manager for an extension of their stay until March 20, giving residents more time to figure out what to do.

On March 20, a number of neighbors and other concerned housing activists showed up to help residents resist eviction or offer support in other ways. No contractors or cops attempted to remove Camp Chloe this time, giving residents a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.

But it’s only a temporary reprieve. Bart Blatstein, founder, owner and CEO of Tower Investments, Inc. wants to break ground on a new development there in January 2027.

Area neighbors Colleen and Erin, alongside camp resident Hanif, explained they want the city to create “safe sleep sites” where people could legally camp as they wait for permanent housing. These official city sites would have bathrooms, showers, 24-hour daily security and a fixed address, providing residents with an official address for work and services.

Camp Chloe residents complain that shelters are often plagued by theft and violence, and have draconian curfews that make it hard to do gig work. Almost every shelter refuses to accept couples and pets.

Residents want to be offered permanent supportive housing directly from the street or houseless camps, bypassing unsafe, unwelcoming shelters.

Housing crisis

The high cost of housing, health care, food and other necessities makes living conditions more precarious. Without affordable housing, a combination of job loss, low wages and high living costs can result in having no place to live. Without affordable healthcare, physical and mental health problems can lead to homelessness. Family issues, such as domestic violence or family breakdown, often force individuals out of their homes.

A May 2025 study by Housing Initiative at Penn found that there is a shortage of over 64,500 housing units that are affordable and available to low-income households in Philadelphia. Among city residents with the lowest incomes, 70% of renters and 63% of homeowners with incomes below 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) spend more than half of their income on housing. Since 2016, the share of homeless people who are unsheltered has increased to 18.8%. (housinginitiative.org) 

The median home sales price in Philadelphia has more than doubled since 2014, increasing from $114,750 in 2014 to $240,625 as of 2024. (www.pew.org) Cumulative real wage growth was only 23.0% during that period, according to Congressional Research Service statistics (March 21). 

While the cost of the typical home mortgage continues to get further and further out of reach for most workers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s state legislators have refused to raise the minimum wage of $7.25 since 2009.

On November 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a sudden change for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition — the largest federal program designed to provide funding and resources to communities to address homelessness.

These unprecedented changes to HUD’s funding commitments include a 30% cap on permanent housing investments for people experiencing homelessness. At least 170,000 people nationwide are expected to lose their supportive housing because of this sudden shift. Impacts will be felt most acutely on the local level. In Pennsylvania alone, 9,243 people may lose housing due to the loss of over $102 million in federal funding for programs that provide permanent housing. (endhomelessness.org)

While housing cuts are causing increased numbers of people to live without housing, over $12 billion has been wasted in just the first two weeks of the illegal war on Iran. Instead of causing death and destruction, that $12 billion could have supported housing assistance for 800,000 to 1.5 million low-income Americans for a year. (Time, March 16)