John Joyce, a member of the Homeless People’s Action Committee, and Megan Smith, a Brown student who works with a Brown housing program, spent the night under the Crawford Street Bridge in tents.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

PROVIDENCE — It’s been four months since Jeff Mayers last slept indoors.

He spends most nights on the streets of the capital city, covered in blankets, plastic –– anything he can find to keep the wind out.

“I’ve been in the military, so I know how to somewhat survive out in this weather,” he said yesterday, his voice quavering from the cold.

For Kris Lapp, it’s been almost as long. Lapp is pregnant. And yesterday was her 24th birthday.

“What a way to spend a birthday, on the streets,” she said.

The two were among the half-dozen homeless and their advocates who huddled in blankets and coats beneath a now-closed Route 195 off-ramp for the second consecutive day yesterday. They spent the night in 2-degree temperatures, knotted together in a frigid enclave of tents erected partly in memory of a friend and partly as a protest against the City of Providence.

Less than a month ago, Paul Langlais, 56, formerly of Coventry, died beneath that bridge during a night of bitter cold. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was heart disease.

Though they have no permit, the group pledged to stay in the makeshift camp on city property until authorities and the public acknowledge they need to do more to fight homelessness.

“There are cracks in the system right now between service providers, the State of Rhode Island and, obviously, the city. There are people sleeping outside in the city of Providence every night,” said John Joyce, a member of an organization that has billed itself as the Homeless People’s Action Committee. “It’s morally wrong that people in the city of Providence are sleeping outside … Obviously the economic times are awful, with the unemployment rate and cuts in the budget last year. And we’ve got a foreclosure crisis going on.”

In the long term, the group says the state needs to improve its help network, build more affordable housing and assign case workers to help those whose addiction problems have driven them to the streets.

More immediately, they say, Rhode Island must work harder to get homeless people off the streets on the coldest nights, providing more transportation to shelters and churches.

By yesterday afternoon, the group had not heard from or seen any Providence officials. To stay warm, they walked around in the snow and sipped icy coffee left over from a delivery someone made Saturday night.

At least the sun was shining, Mayers said, his smile weak.

But for Lapp, the cold was too intense. She stayed inside the tent, in a sleeping bag.

A spokesman for Mayor David N. Cicilline did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Joyce said the group had no plans to leave.

“Our feeling is if we’re all together, we can watch each other’s backs,” said Joyce, his hands shaking as he dragged on a cigarette. “Paul didn’t have to die alone here. If we had these tents set up, someone could have watched him. It’s just tents, but it’s shelter.”

With reports from Frieda Squires

cneedham@projo.com