Homeless, Clymene reads tarot cards for money. The Smiley ...

Clymene Fox offers tarot readings under a canopy on the South Water Street side of the Pedestrian Bridge, next to Tizzy K’s Ice Cream in Providence. She is experiencing homelessness and being harassed by city officials because she has been sleeping outside.

If you would like to help Clymene consider visiting her for a tarot reading.

I spoke to her on Friday, after an interaction with two police officers and workers with the Department of Public Works.

Steve Ahlquist: The police came today and when you found out about it, they were already taking apart your tent?

Clymene: Yeah. They were already busting it down.

Steve Ahlquist: You had a note on it that said, basically, “Be right back - please don't mess with my stuff.” What did you have in your tent?

Clymene: Mostly just my clothes. I brought my electronics with me just to be safe. And an air mattress because my friend gave me money to invest in not being completely uncomfortable on the streets. I wanted to buy a van to live in, but I just couldn't - no one would get back to me in time. I needed somewhere to sleep so I had to buy a tent.

So they were busting up my tent and I ran over and I was like, “No, no, no, please -I've been very respectful of this area.” And they were like, “Yeah, we don't care. You can't sleep here. There's no camping in Providence anywhere.” I responded, “Where am I supposed to go then?” And they said, “You have to go to a shelter.” And I said, “Shelters aren't really that safe for trans women.”

And they just didn't care. They were like, yeah, whatever.

I feel safer sleeping in a tent by myself, by this nice park where I’m safe.

Steve Ahlquist: In a busy enough place where, if you had problems, people would see and intervene.

Clymene: Exactly. In a place where I'm not so secluded that I could get raped or something.

Steve Ahlquist: If you're in the woods alone you're more vulnerable, an easy victim.

Clymene: Exactly.

Steve Ahlquist: But if you're in public or around people, they can look out for you.

Clymene: Exactly. And the crazy thing is that cops have driven by here multiple times when I was sleeping to tell drunk people to move on. But didn't say anything to me. But today when they came by they said we have talked to you multiple times. And I'm like, no they haven't. I was never contacted by the cops, not once and they've passed by here multiple times. There's a cop who sits up there every day and doesn't say anything, so I assumed it was fine. The park manager, however, was the one who came to me to tell me on Waterfire night [Saturday] that I couldn't be here.

I was already set up though with my booth and everything. I didn't have a tent that night, so I was just set up like this. She let me stay because I was already set up and because the musicians who were setting up wanted to set up down the way. They were trying to get her to leave me alone because they wanted to set up further down.

Steve Ahlquist: How long have you been here doing tarot readings?

Clymene: I've been here for a few weeks now. I was able to afford a hotel room for three days, during the rain earlier in the week. But that was all my money. So I had to just, alright, here we are now. This is it. Now we're doing it. So I bought a tent and set up for the night. But Saturday night during Waterfire, I slept out in the open pretty much. It was scary. Drunk people were walking by all night. I didn't even have a blanket yet. I'm both laying on this [a tarp] and using it as a blanket in a sandwich technique. And I hear some person say, “Oh, blah, blah, blah, a homeless person.” And their friend was like, “That's not a homeless person. Homeless people don't have all that stuff.” And I'm like, what stuff?

Steve Ahlquist: The prejudice is insane.

Clymene: It's crazy. And it's perpetuated by our government. They want the citizens to hate us. It's like we're rats or something. We're just trying to survive and make the best of a bad situation. I would much rather live in an apartment, but no one's letting me move in. I can't hold a regular job because I have too much PTSD from losing my daughter in 2020. And they don't care or understand. You have to get over it and do the grind and just get a regular job so you can be a regular part of society, but there's no part of society for people who can't be a part of regular society unless they're just relegated to dirt. You get crappy shelters that are not taken care of, not given enough money, and not given enough staff to be safe.

I was talking to the cops and said, “This is what people mean when they say Defund the Police. Do you think you're helping society by breaking down my tent and sending me away?”

And they wouldn't answer me. They couldn't answer me. They don't have an answer. One of them kept putting his head down and I was like, “You can't even look at me. Put your head up. Look at me while I'm talking to you.” And he put his head down even further like a joke. I was like, “Take off your sunglasses and look at me while I'm asking you if you think you're helping society by doing this.” And he wouldn't. It was very telling.

Steve Ahlquist: I'm working on getting the footage.

Clymene: You have my full permission to publish a story.

Steve Ahlquist: You said they offered you services?

Clymene: They said that they would call The Providence Center, but I've been kind of in and out of services for the last two years. I know that they're underfunded. I know that they're not working as well as they should be, and I know that they're not well taken care of. I would feel much safer, cleaner, and happier just staying in a tent. I don't think it's that big of a deal when I'm not bothering anyone. I'm just sleeping.

Steve Ahlquist: You're not in a group.

Clymene: I chose a place that wasn't vulnerable to becoming an encampment for a reason - so that it would just be me. But no, they want their streets pristine and their parks pristine. Even though I was keeping clean. I certainly was keeping my area clean.

Steve Ahlquist: It looks fine to me.

Clymene: I haven't been heckling people when people walk by and they don't want to have their cards read. I say, “Have a lovely day.” It's crazy to me because even when you're not being a problem, they paint it as if homeless people are all dangerous and unstable. Even when you're not being unstable or dangerous, they still go after you. It's like there's no right way to act as a homeless person.

I was able to see a video of Clymene’s Interaction with the police, forwarded to me by a passerby concerned about the way Clymene was being treated by the police and by DPW workers. I put an APRA (Access to Public Records Act) request [#24-1135] into the Providence Police Department for the responding officer’s body-worn camera footage and all paperwork related to the interaction between Clymene and the police. So far the City has not responded to my APRA.

The video I viewed from the passerby starts towards the beginning of the interaction with the police and ends abruptly when Clymene breaks away to talk with the person shooting the video.

I should note here that I was told by the passerby that the police told her that anything confiscated by DPW from the area was to be stored at Roger Williams Park for pickup. However, the truck sent to transport Clymeme’s personal effects was a regular DPW trash truck, filled with white trash bags from public trash cans. Imagine a moving company pulling up to your house or apartment with a garbage truck instead of a moving van. What would be your assumption?

The conversation has been edited for clarity.

Clymene: I was never contacted by the police.

Officer 2: Well, like we said, we're contacting you now.

DPW Worker: We've spoken to her several times that she can't set up there, but she keeps returning and has been staying overnight.

Clymene: That's not the cops contacting me. I was never contacted by the cops.

Officer 1: Is that your tent?

Clymene: Yes. I was never contacted by the cops. The cops never contacted me and cops have passed by here multiple times. That never stopped me or busted up my tents.

Officer 1: It's not a debate. It's not a back-and-forth. What we're going to do is we're going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You have to take your stuff, now, and move it elsewhere. It cannot be here.

Clymene: This is cruel. This is cruel.

Officer 1: Cruel is me, us grabbing your stuff and throwing it away.

Clymene: No. What's cruel is doing this to a homeless population, no matter what...

Officer 1: There's plenty of services out there that...

Clymene: No, there's not. You say there are plenty of services, but that's bullshit. It's bullshit. Those services don't do shit for anyone. People die in the fucking streets because you guys don't do anything. [Turning to the person with the camera] I'm sorry. Who are you?

Kathleen: My name's Kathleen. I was asking the same questions that you're asking and he said that you had declined services...

Clymene: The thing is, I was actually in services and then they pulled up, so nothing is available right now. I know that for a fact. Not only that but staying in a shelter as a trans woman is not actually that safe. So I'm much safer staying right here. This is ridiculous. I'm not hurting anybody. I'm not doing anything to anyone.

Officer 2: There's no camping allowed in the City of Providence.

Clymene: That doesn't make sense. The public parks are public.

Officer 2: Yes, for the public. They're not for camping [they're] for walking...

Clymene: They won't let me camp on a campsite either because I would have to pay. This is ridiculous.

Officer 2: Those are the rules and regulations, see? Just like I own a house and if I don't pay my taxes, I lose my house.

Clymene: Oh, shut up! How long ago did you get a house? When they were giving them out and the banks crashed?

Officer 2: There are rules in society.

Clymene: You ruined the world.

Officer 2: That's the rule.

Clymene: People like you ruined the world and now we have to deal with it. Because you ignored the world.

Officer 2: Yeah, I ignored the world.

Clymene: Yeah, you sure did.

Officer 2: There are rules. You violated a rule, so we're giving you the opportunity…

Clymene: I have to find a place to put my stuff. I will work on it today.

Officer 1: You can pack it up and then you can find a place to put it, but it's not staying here.

Clymene: I have done nothing to anyone.

Kathleen [to the Officers]: Can I ask something? You said sometimes people from The Providence Center will come and help out.

Officer 1: Yeah, she's aware of it. If she doesn't want to go with the service...

Clymene: The services are not safe for trans people... not only that, they're not taken care of. They're not well kept because they're not given enough money from the state because the state would rather give money to you pigs...

Officer 1: You're an adult. We offer the services as an adult.

Clymene: No, no, no, you don't understand. Why don't you try this? Why don't you try [being homeless]?

Officer 1: No.

Clymene: Exactly. Because you know how hard it is to be homeless. Because you know the reality. You don't care. You know what? You're a class traitor too.

Officer 1: If I didn't care, I would've just grabbed your stuff... You can say what you want, but as of now, I need this down.

Clymene: Yeah, I know. Because it's such an eyesore for the yuppies. Oh my God. They're going to see my stuff and think, wow, homeless people exist in this town because nobody is doing anything.

Officer 1: Five minutes and take it down.

Clymene: I'm sure you feel like a big man.