How the Outlanders Built Trust, Leadership, and a Government of Their Own Even as the Threat of Eviction Looms
Welcome to Outlanders. The camp is decorated in colorful string lights, beautiful handmade crafts, and keepsakes. A fence surrounds the camp, made up of tall wooden pallets. This isn’t just a homeless encampment. In fact, many of its residents don’t even consider themselves homeless. Instead, some think of it as long-term camping or homesteading. What’s most important to understand about the Outlanders is that they are an intentional community.
While some residents live in clusters of tents, others live in larger structures. About a dozen people live here at any given time, and most are middle-aged married couples. Some have jobs, some don’t. Some are sick or disabled. Some aspire to live in a house one day, while others prefer the camping life. What matters most to them is having a safe place to sleep at night and neighbors who care about them.
“We don’t fit the mold, and we’re really unusual. So, it’s taken a while for people to really understand what we’re trying to do. But I can tell you that the results we’ve had are a community that has hope, dignity – it used to be just resources, but now it’s about the actual gathering,” Paul Geigel, Founder of Eliza Park Homeless Initiative, told Invisible People. “We have fun. We have lots of fun when we’re together.”…