Inside tent city

When Record photographer Andrej Ivanov was assigned to visit tent city this summer, he couldn’t just walk away from what he saw. Over the course of August he documented life in this itinerant community that has been pushed to the margins of Waterloo Region.

It’s dirty, insecure and sometimes dangerous, but it’s a community.

Dozens of homeless people have pitched tents in Waterloo Region’s cities this summer. In groups of six to 10, they often hide from public view in wooded areas or vacant lots. Sometimes you can see the brandnew office buildings and tall condo towers just a few blocks away.

There are lots of reasons these people won’t go to shelters: Maybe their closest friend is a dog, and the shelter doesn’t allow pets. Maybe there’s no safe place to store their possessions. Maybe they just aren’t comfortable being around strangers in close quarters.

The other people in the tent city aren’t strangers. They’re neighbours.

Before they set up their camps, the group works together to clean up garbage that they find on the site. They set aside a secluded area to use as a bathroom. As much as they can, they make the space their own.

They eat together, sharing whatever food they have. They do drugs together, never alone. Someone always has a clean needle or a naloxone kit, in case of overdose.

“They kind of see themselves as a safe injection site,” said photojournalist Andrej Ivanov, who spent time with the group.

Tent cities have been set up on city parkland, some as a protest against creeping gentrification. Higher land prices have eaten away at the supply of cheap housing that people on welfare or disability pensions can afford.

It’s against the law to live in a park or on a trail, so they are soon asked to leave.

This group started in Victoria Park in July and had to move four times. For the past several weeks, they have concealed themselves in a forested area behind a factory in central Kitchener. Driven further into hiding, they face a paradox: It’s harder for bylaw officers to find them, but also harder for social workers who are trying to help them.

Derrick Gray considers how he will set up his tent, using cross beams and the surrounding trees. Gray was able to position a large tarp canopy above his tent to protect himself from the rain.

Sam’s dogs, Hesperia and Apollo, have been with her for quite some time. She says she can’t afford to pay a vet to fix and deworm them, but they are fed and always have water. Sam says the dogs protect her.

Julian Ichim and Sam clean up garbage left by people who had previously lived on the site. The tent city occupants felt that they owed it to themselves to clean the space. “I like my home clean. This is my home, so I cleaned it,” Sam said.

Amanda Lindsay eats a rib brought by someone to tent city. Meals are always communal, and people bring what they can buy or steal. Some people bring leftovers from restaurants, other bring sausages, and some bring stuff from the food bank and other donated foods.