For the third consecutive year, residents at Kelowna’s Tent City have come together to grow a community garden, that is technically unauthorized. This unsanctioned vegetable garden, which brings a sense of purpose and pride to those living at Tent City, is at risk of being uprooted due to ongoing bylaw infractions. The site, which is located beside the Rail Trail, at the intersection of Richter Street and Weddell Place, is a city-maintained encampment for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and is called ‘Tent City’ by those who live there.
In Kelowna, all people who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness are required to sleep at Tent City. Currently, more than 100 people call Tent City home. For the past three years, some of the people who live at Tent City have taken it upon themselves to dig up the mulch beside the site and plant a vegetable garden.
“We’ve been working really hard on this,” said Bryan Helber, a resident of Tent City. The community garden, which is not sanctioned by the city, is situated on a plot of land along the fence that separates the encampment from the Rail Trail. Helber said that in addition to food, the garden provides residents with pride and purpose because they have something beautiful and productive to work on.
He said that often, when pedestrians walk down the recreational Rail Trail pathway they “hurl insults” at Tent City and its residents. However, since the garden has been in bloom, Helber said pedestrians have .
