Outside a tent at the embattled Dallas homeless encampment known as Camp Rhonda, the wind blew ash and smoke from a small firepit into Michael Lavelle Amphy s face. The air was thick with the smell of dying flames.
It was Amphy s last day at the camp near Interstate 45 and Ferris Street, as it was for the rest of the homeless residents. They packed their belongings, stuffing whatever they wanted to take with them into black trash bags and moving boxes.
Some were leaving with Ryan Ahmadian, co-founder of the Dallas Houseless Committee and a member of Dallas Stops Evictions. They d head to a hotel for two weeks, which is paid for with funds raised by activists. Feed the People, another activist group, raised nearly $200,000 to help those affected by last week’s winter storms. Ahmadian said they paid $30,000 for more than 20 rooms.