Code Purple organizers work to resume homeless encampment off Route 1

Organizers of a structured encampment for homeless people off Route 1 – which operated on an experimental basis late last fall – are hopeful the state will allow them to reopen it in March, the site director said.

There was initially some uncertainty when then-Gov. Bethany Hall-Long recently announced a study to determine a long-term plan for the property that was used from Oct. 15 to Nov. 30 by Code Purple at the Cape, said program site director Mike Agnew.

Agnew said he hopes to talk with Brian Maxwell, the new director of the state Office of Management and Budget, about extending the agreement to use the property, which was once the site of Delaware State Police Troop 7. Gov. Matt Meyer, who took the oath of office Jan. 21, chose Maxwell to oversee the office in his administration. 

“It’s our plan to meet with [Maxwell] or some other cabinet member in the Meyer administration in the next couple of weeks,” Agnew said. 

The property near Five Points has been vacant since state police moved in 2019 to a new building off Mulberry Knoll Road. The barracks briefly served as a Code Purple homeless shelter but was torn down because it was in poor condition.

The Code Purple at the Cape program, which provides temporary housing for people who are homeless, set up two dozen tents on the vacant site. Many of the residents had jobs but could not afford rent, program organizers have said. 

Agnew said he was encouraged that Hall-Long, in her Jan. 17 announcement, noted possible use of the site by underserved members of the community, which indicates an openness to long-term use by the Code Purple on the Cape program.

The last study about potential uses for the Route 1 site was conducted in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many changes in the community since then warrant another review, Hall-Long said in a news release issued by her office.

“The eastern side of Sussex County is one of the fastest-growing parts of our state, and that increased population brings a significant demand for behavioral and social health services across people’s lifespans,” Hall-Long said. “Unfortunately, the delivery of state services has not kept pace with that population explosion.”

“Gov. Hall-Long’s directive instructs the Office of Management and Budget to provide options for the potential reuse of the property, such as relocating existing state operations or providing new social services for the surrounding community at the site,” according to the release.

Code Purple organizers were also worried the tents would be removed when the Delaware Department of Transportation began building a fence around a portion of the site, where the agency was going to store salt. In the end, the encampment – commonly called tent city but officially named Tharros, the Greek word for courage – coexisted with DelDOT without any issues.

The encampment closed Nov. 30, when indoor overnight shelters opened for men at St. Jude the Apostle in Lewes and for women at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Rehoboth Beach as the winter weather set in. Residents were guaranteed placement, as long as they had abided by the rules at Tharros.

With indoor winter accommodations set to close March 15, planning to reopen Tharros is beginning, Agnew said. 

“We were very impressed with the work Mike has done in helping the homeless,” said Lewes Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba. “As he moves forward, we are aware that on March 15, when Code Purple ends, it is open-ended about whether he will return to Camp Tharros or not.“

Saliba said he would also lobby Maxwell to extend the agreement for Code Purple on the Cape to use the property. The deputy mayor said he worries the change in administration could slow a decision that needs to be made quickly.   

The project received a financial boost last month when Lewes Mayor and City Council appropriated $25,000 from its share of American Rescue Plan Act funding. The money will be used to build a fence, Saliba said. 

Agnew and volunteers, mostly from area churches, were first drawn to the site to create a sanitary environment. The effort to move the homeless to a safer, structured environment grew into an ad hoc group of county and state officials, community and healthcare groups, and the state police. 

Agnew developed a 10-page safety protocol. After signing a contract agreeing to the camp rules, residents receive a permit allowing them to live there. Each tent was numbered and corresponded to the resident’s permit. No one but the resident was allowed to stay in the tents, and there was to be no noise after 10 p.m.

Each tent was placed on a 20-square-foot site. Port-a-potties and a washstand were available for residents to use.

“They very quickly became a neighborhood, helping each other out,” Agnew said of the residents.

“What we didn’t expect was the tremendous support in the community,” he said.

Volunteers drove residents to a shower facility throughout the week. More than 30 groups and churches brought meals, and food trucks and food kitchens offered free food to residents. Hall-Long provided a used DART bus.