Tents on wheels.
  • gurldogg via Flickr
  • Tents on wheels.
This Sunday, Nickelsville, a nomadic homeless encampment of roughly 60 people, will fulfill a pledge it makes to every neighborhood it briefly calls home—namely, a pledge to leave.


But before it does, Nickelsville residents and advocates are planning a "black cat caravan" to City Hall at 2:00 p.m. on Friday the 13th, where they hope to pressure city council members to find them a permanent, city-sanctioned site to set up camp.

The group has been stationed at Lake City's defunct Fire Station 39 for the past six months at the city's invitation. Both the Union Gospel Mission and Share/WHEEL—nonprofits that provide shelter services to homeless people—have proposed overseeing another shelter in the fire station once the group vacates.

Nickelsville, which has been stationed in church parking lots and on unauthorized city property, hasn't revealed the location of its next site, but representatives say they haven't conferred with the city on the location.