OCEAN CITY, Md. - St. Paul’s By-the-Sea in Ocean City says it plans to move people staying in tents on church property inside next week and begin operating an overnight low-barrier shelter as an April 1 town deadline approaches.
Church leaders say the move comes after months of allowing unhoused people to stay in tents on church grounds while they worked toward a longer-term indoor shelter plan. Town officials have said the tents violate zoning rules, and the church says it now faces a choice between removing the tents or bringing people inside sooner than expected.
Rev. Jill Williams said the church expects about a dozen people to come inside the first night.
“So we have a deadline from the city of April 1st that we have to have the tents down,” Williams said. “And so we decided as a parish that we were going to take a step forward in faith.”
Williams said church leaders believe there is a gap in services within Ocean City for people who do not qualify for other shelter programs.
“There is currently no shelter in Ocean City for people to go to that does not have a barrier,” Williams said, describing a low-barrier shelter as one without requirements tied to sobriety, criminal background or participation in a specific program.
Jill Lake, director of outreach ministries at St. Paul’s, said the church believed leaving people outside without tents was not a humane option.
“If we were to get rid of the tents and just have people outside, which is permissible, it’s legal because it’s private property, the tents are the zoning issue. It’s not the people that are the zoning issue,” Lake said. “So we could have said, okay, everyone can be in a sleeping bag literally on the front lawn, but that’s not fair to those people.”
Lake said the church is now rushing to prepare the building for shelter operations, including hiring staff, reorganizing its pantry and food service areas, and gathering supplies for those expected to stay there overnight.
“It’s chaotic,” Lake said. “There’s a lot to get done.”
The church says sheltering is the newest part of its broader outreach work, which already includes a pantry and meal service. Lake said demand for those services is growing, with 66 people showing up for lunch one recent day, the highest total so far this year.
Ken Argot, executive director of Diakonia, said in a statement that the organization served more than 275 people through shelter programming last year and is almost always full, largely because of limited affordable housing. He said about 75% of Diakonia residents find housing within three to six months.
Argot also said Diakonia launched a full-time mobile outreach team last year that responds within 72 hours to homeless individuals in Ocean City and provides supplies and referrals to shelter, mental health treatment and substance use treatment for those who accept services.
WBOC reached out to town officials for additional comment. The town said it would not comment further until it sees what happens next week.