The Safe Haven community began late in the spring of 2009 when a small group of homeless people began pitching tents in a backyard near the Catholic Worker House in Champaign. The organizers were seeking a sense of safety and community in a group, supporters said.

    In the months since, the group has expanded its size and its vision. Now numbering somewhere between 30 and 40 members, Safe Haven has elected a leadership council and established a set of rules banning alcohol, drugs and violence.

      The self-governing community formed at a time when the homeless population in Champaign County appears to be on the rise. The Urbana-Champaign Continuum of Care conducted a survey in early August that counted 594 homeless people living in the county, a 20 percent increase from the 495 counted in January.

    During its first six months of existence, the group drew the ire of its original neighbors, survived a protracted zoning dispute with the city of Champaign and relocated six times.

    Through a series of videos, an interactive map and a searchable story archive, this project details the community’s history and its vision for the future.