ABC11 reports that the city of Fayetteville is in the process of clearing its largest homeless campsite at Gillespie Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway.
The city announced its plan on Monday (Apr. 24) as they are looking to push people living there to utilize city resources for housing.
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The city gave everyone on the campsite until May 3 to leave. Otherwise, they will be cited for trespassing.
Officials say that clearing campsites like this one is in the best interest of everyone, as they bring unsanitary conditions and safety hazards. Most importantly, they want to provide help to people on the street to get the housing they need.
“We understand that we’re not going to solve homelessness with these efforts but we’re doing our best to manage what we can with the resources we have available,” said Loren Bymer, the marketing and communications director for the city of Fayetteville.
The city’s homeless are encouraged to call the Coordinated Entry program. Campers can stay at a hotel, free of charge, for 21 days. Once they find long-term housing, they are eligible to have their down payment and first month’s rent covered by the city.
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Local advocates commend the city for their efforts, but as Operation Inasmuch’s executive director Craig Morrison says, that’s only part of the solution.
“Getting someone off the street is only a small piece of the puzzle,” he says. “And so a lot of what we’re facing here is folks who have mental illnesses, folks who have legal issues, folks who have family barriers, folks who have substance abuse. So you’ve got multiple barriers that are stacking on top of one another that really create this mountain that someone has to try to climb.”
City officials are planning on clearing three more homeless campsites in Fayetteville. There is no timeline currently for those efforts.
City of Fayetteville to Clear Largest Homeless Campsite was originally published on foxync.com
