Rhonda L. Sneed is proud of creating the most affordable housing community in Richmond — a tent city located on Oliver Hill Way across the street from the Richmond Justice Center.

A small determined woman with a mop of curly hair, the 60-year-old New York native who was a Richmond Free Press Personality in January 2018 is leading a cadre of volunteers and benefactors to provide the free housing to about 80 people who have no other place to go and have too little money to afford better.

To the embarrassment of city officials, the tents are set up in neat rows in a grassy area next to the Annie Giles Community Resource Center, where the city and its partner, Commonwealth Catholic Charities, provide emergency shelter on frigid nights often to more than 100 people.

Along with the tents, Ms. Sneed gained volunteer help to secure first one and now two portable toilets to maintain sanitation in the tent city.

The most noticeable, the camp is one of several that exist in the city — along 7th Street, in areas along Hermitage Road and in parts of Church Hill. They are tangible evidence of the dearth of housing for the poorest.

The rise of such camps has come despite the sharp reduction in the number of homeless people, now less than 500 in Richmond compared with nearly 1,200 in 2009, according to the nonprofit Homeward’s annual census.

City Hall and a host of non-profits have worked to reduce the number of people needing housing. The city maintains a homeless hotline — (804) 972- 0813 — and offers a range of resources.

But those in the camp often cannot qualify for available assistance or face mental or physical challenges that keep them out of the system.

And with rents continuing to rise — even a week’s stay in a motel room can cost $250 at some of the least expensive places — there are few options left for the homeless.

“We have people here who are working, but they don’t make enough to pay rent. And there are others who are disabled and can’t work,” Ms. Sneed said. “There are a lot reasons people end up here.”

The camp has drawn the ire of Reginald E. “Reggie” Gordon, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for human services. In early January, he issued a letter directing Ms.Sneed to dismantle the tents, even though the property she said belongs to Virginia Commonwealth University, which has not told Ms. Sneed to do anything.

“I told him no,” said Ms. Sneed.

Ms. Sneed is founder and leader of the all-volunteer Blessing Warriors RVA that now counts 3,000 members on its Facebook group that raises money and contributes food, clothing and tents to support the work.

“He didn’t offer any options for these people,” Ms. Sneed said of Mr. Gordon. “Where are they supposed to go?”

Mr. Gordon did not respond to a Free Press request for comment.

In the letter sent to Ms. Sneed, Mr. Gordon cited crime and health issues with the tent city, but the Free Press has not found any evidence to support his allegations.

A retired postal worker and Air Force veteran, Ms. Sneed said she saw the need for tents last year when she found people sleeping in the mud without any blankets in the same area. Garbage was strewn every- where by those staying there, she said, and human waste was left against the building.

“I couldn’t go through that again,” said Ms. Sneed, who was shocked to find homeless people in Richmond when she moved here several years ago and has been involved with feeding the hungry and home- less since 2013.

With help from a kindred

spirit, Cathy Davis, she founded Blessing Warriors RVA. Ms. Davis died recently, and the tent city has been named “Camp Cathy” in her honor.

The tents are only part of the services that Ms. Sneed provides. She brings breakfast, sandwiches, coffee and other items daily to ensure people can eat. For those on medication, she makes sure they take them as prescribed.

And she ferries residents to doctor appointments and job sites.

“Whatever is needed, we take care of,” she said, tick- ing off the names of regular volunteers, such as community activist Svondai N. Brown and Tony and Traci Eagles and their daughter, Corrighan.

To help make sure the camp is properly managed when she can’t be there, she has assigned the task to two men living at the site, David Henderson and Sherwood Jasper. They make sure people follow the rules, which include no smoking or drinking in the tents and cleanup of the space.

“We are teaching responsibility,” Mrs. Eagles said.

The rules are enforced. When a newcomer went to the bathroom beside his tent, he was told to clean it up or his tent would be removed, Ms. Sneed said.

So far, Mr. Gordon has gone no further than writing the letter. Camp Cathy has grown since then with additional tents.

“So long as there are people who need this help,” Ms. Sneed said, “I’ll be here.”