As housing crisis worsens, homeless forced to leave woods along Coastal Highway

Amid a worsening housing crisis, a small population of homeless individuals were forced to leave their encampments in a small patch of woods along Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach in June.

In March, Delaware State Police started talking with "approximately 6-8 people" staying in the woods behind the cemetery of Midway Presbyterian Church, spokesperson Cpl. David Huynh said via email. Four properties in the area, owned by the church, Newark Presbytery, East Atlantic Apartments and an unnamed business, were "experiencing issues with the homeless," according to Huynh.

"The church, in particular ... had placed no trespassing signs that were unfortunately torn down," Huynh said, and stolen property was found in the area.

"Considering all these factors, we began working on a plan to assist the (church) in mitigating the trespassing and cleaning the area," he said.

Neither Midway Presbyterian Church nor Newark Presbytery returned calls and emails.

The homeless individuals "were provided with a range of resources," another state police spokesperson, Lt. India Sturgis, said. That included access to mental health services, substance abuse programs and other general health services, according to Sturgis.

Huynh said police provided notice to the homeless individuals weeks in advance of June 18, when a Department of Correction work crew was deployed to clean up the area, filling two dumpsters.

Three homeless individuals remained when police arrived and left peacefully, Sturgis said.

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"We recognize the challenges faced by those experiencing homelessness and made every effort to provide support and resources," Huynh said. "Our goal was to address the concerns of the property owners while showing compassion and respect for the individuals involved."

Housing 'out of reach' for many Delawareans

Recently, no people were present at the encampments, across Coastal Highway from Walmart, but it was clear far more than "6-8 people" lived there at one time.

Munchy Branch runs through the wooded area behind the cemetery, which extends to the highway on one side and Fairfield Inn on the other to encompass roughly 2 or 3 acres. It is completely overrun with trash. There was evidence of the police cleanup in a small portion of the woods behind the cemetery.

The encampments are completely hidden from the view of Coastal Highway by the trees. Ironically, one of the paths into the woods is along a row of signs advertising new homes, which cost $300,000 or more.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition and Housing Alliance DE publish the "Out of Reach" report annually, which "illuminates the gulf between wages and what people need to earn to afford rent," a Housing Alliance news release said.

While the minimum wage in Delaware is $13.25, the "2-bedroom housing wage" is $30.65 an hour, a 17% increase from 2023, according to the report.

A “housing wage” is defined as the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a rental home at fair market rent without spending more than 30% of their income on housing.

"With the cost of rent growing further out of reach, it is no surprise that homelessness has been on the rise," the news release said. "Existing research shows a direct connection between rental housing costs, rental housing supply, and homelessness."

Raising the minimum wage alone will not solve the housing crisis, the news release says. Housing costs must also come down. Delaware has a shortage of over 16,000 affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renters, the report says, and more than half of those renters are seniors or disabled.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.