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Rice asks aldermen to support tent community for homeless

Joseph Leahy/St. Louis Public Radio

Rev. Larry Rice is taking a new approach in his crusade to shelter homeless persons in St. Louis.

Rice was arrested two weeks ago for trying to set up a homeless camp on private land. Now, he’s asking city aldermen to directly support a tent community by providing one acre of land owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority.

“We have tent cities that are illegal here in this city right now," he said. "Let’s have a legal tent city for the sake of homelessness. The homeless should not be criminalized. These people just want a home.”

Rice says area homeless people need a camp because St. Louis lacks enough affordable housing.

Alderman Stephen Conway, who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee, says the city already provides adequate homeless services and a city-sanctioned camp would be unsafe and unnecessary.