Philadelphia Inquirer: Camden’s Tent City homeless keep up hope:

… The homeless say that this year’s census will show their numbers are swelling. Tent City is a microcosm of the homeless, with recovering addicts, jobless veterans and the mentally ill – ages 22 to 74 – all represented, Banks said.

In each tent, amid piles of donated blankets and cans of ethanol used for heat, there is a tale of heartbreak.

…Tent City is also known as Veterans Camp, for the several Vietnam War vets who live there, or J-Camp, for Banks’ native Jamaica. In the summer, Banks said, as many as 60 people stay there.

Some of those interviewed yesterday have been at Tent City for only a few months, and most don’t plan to stay.

“I still have dreams,” Floyd said. “I still have things I want to do. I want to be a father, a family man. I don’t plan to stay here all my life. I told [my daughters] I’d make it.”

Speaking under a steady, freezing rain, Floyd declared: “It can’t stay rainy every day.”