There is a growing body of research on homelessness, and collective action amongst the homeless. Tent cities are examples of self-help housing efforts. Tent cities are erected as shelter and make poverty visible in public domains. The form and interaction of tent cities are context specific. The perceptions of tent city participants in Canada remain partly understood by researchers. The aim of this thesis is to investigate activism and collective mobilization in one tent city – Cridge Park tent city - from the perspectives of tent city participants. I questioned what the experiences in the tent city meant for participants, their perceived public reaction to the tent city, and whether the research participants continue their activism beyond Cridge Park tent city. I present an empirically-grounded case study to uncover four participants’ perspectives of their involvement. I used qualitative research methods to access the perspectives of tent cities from four Cridge Park tent city participants. Cridge Park participants spoke of Cridge Park tent city as a “community” where they enjoyed freedom to negotiate their individual identity and where they found security and safety, which they lost when the tent city was closed. Including houseless persons in the decision-making process for services and policies that directly impact them is required to better meet their needs. Comparative research could investigate contextual differences and influences on the success or failure of tent cities as forms of social movement activities. / Graduate