Tent City USA

Directed by Aleksey Braznikov 2014

Film Review

In 2014 when this film was made, Lakewood New Jersey’s Tent City was 7 years old and one of the largest on the East Coast. Although most of its residents worked full time, their incomes were too high to qualify for either welfare or subsidized housing (most qualified for $50 in food stamps). One of their residents was a textiles manager for 30 years before her job was outsourced to China.

The tent city was run by a minister who quit his full time (and became homeless himself) to run the Tent City and distribute food and second clothing to poor communities throughout Lakewood. Another homeless man who lived in his car used his VA pension check to pick up free unsold pizzas from pizza restaurants and free nearly expired groceries from supermarkets.

After years of harassment (with the police giving residents tickets for using their wood stoves), in 2010 the city of Lakewood sued the homeless people in Tent City. The latter found a law firm who donated $1 million in pro bono services defending them. In a settlement, the city agreed to a consent order providing one year subsidized housing for everyone in Tent City. The social services worker who places most of them says his agency is trying to teach them to mobilize to meet their own needs. After a year if they can’ organize their own housing they will be out on the street again.

This clearly doesn’t address the problem faced by Tent City residents who already have full time jobs.

The filmmakers follow several Tent City residents into their new accommodations. One woman nearly loses hers when she can’t get a bank account to deposit her Social Security check. For some reason, the Social Security Administration refuses to replace her lost Social Security card.

The Tent City camp is allowed to stay open for a year in case former residents lose their housing. Many former Tent City residents return to Tent City for food because their food stamp allowance is inadequate to purchase three meals a day.