72-hour notices to remove tents posted at homeless encampment in People’s Park
People living in an encampment at People’s Park in Hilltop have been given a 72-hour notice to remove their tents and transition to shelter elsewhere, city of Tacoma staff announced in a press release.
The notices were posted and handed out by police Friday afternoon. The fliers included a number to call for available shelter.
“People will have through Monday to transition, and it is anticipated that the Park Code will be in full effect beginning Tuesday,” city spokesperson Megan Snow said.
The announcement follows a notice sent by the city last week that the micro shelter site that opened on Martin Luther King Way Jr. was at capacity of 35 people and the city was ready to “begin cleanup” of People’s Park. As of Dec. 27, there were still approximately 70 tents and 25 individuals at People’s Park, staff said.
City staff has been holding off enforcing a new park code restricting walled structures, including tents, in parks during daytime hours until shelter was available.
The Tacoma Rescue Mission has shelter beds available for men and women, and Bethlehem Baptist Church has shelter beds available for women, families and couples without children, Snow said.
“City parks, including People’s Park, are not authorized shelter sites,” the press release states. “Individuals utilizing People’s Park for overnight shelter must transition from the park to authorized shelters.”
Some people experiencing homelessness and staying in tents at People’s Park shared frustrations and concerns after receiving notices on Friday.
Lois Klomp, 59, has been homeless for three years and said she doesn’t know where she will go after leaving the park. She said she’s been banned from some of the shelters.
“I’d like to be somewhere where I’m off the street, where I’m nice and warm, where I’d not be freezing to death,” Klomp said.
Kelly McCutcheon, 35, is staying at the park and said she’s unable to find housing despite having a job and making $800 a month. She added that she doesn’t feel shelter is guaranteed to everyone.
“Where do we move from here?” she asked.
Another person by the name of Mr. Wright said he’s been in Tacoma all his life and became homeless when he got sick. He said shelter living isn’t for him, that he’s lost the comfort of indoor living.
“There’s nowhere else for me to go,” he said. “We’ve been pushed into a corner.”
Maureen Howard, a homeless advocate, said city staff were at the Tacoma-Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness meeting Friday morning and didn’t mention the notices were being sent out later that day.
She also voiced concern that support services aren’t typically available over the weekends.
“Even when shelters say they have a bed, the person who needs it may not be eligible — could be the wrong gender, have/not have children, have/not have a pet, have a criminal history record, have belongings they can’t store, not have transportation, been barred from the shelter for some reason, not be eligible because already stayed there, didn’t sign up at the right time,” Howard wrote in an email.
Gerrit Nyland, director of client information systems for Catholic Community Services, said he feels the city is walking the tightrope on a difficult issue.
“There aren’t easy answers,” he said.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
