Latest news with #encampment
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Travellers set up camp at Birmingham park
Travellers have set up camp at a Birmingham park. Caravans and vehicles were spotted on playing fields at Old Quarry Park in Bartley Green. It comes after travellers had an encampment at Gilbertson Recreation Ground in Yardley last week. READ MORE: Birmingham hit-and-run driver hunted after collision which left girl with serious injuries READ MORE: M6 police incident live after man dies at scene and motorway closed READ MORE: Woman arrested as police probe baby death in Birmingham READ MORE: Solihull teen admits taking pick-up truck from hotel READ MORE: Three prisoners with Birmingham links stage jailbreak amid do not approach warning A group had also moved back to Swanshurst Park in Billesley for the fifth time in six weeks. The group have since left. Park volunteers then launched a huge clean-up after fly-tipped waste blocked paths. A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: "Birmingham City Council is committed to actively protecting its land and will take steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it. 'The council has useable transit sites and plots for use by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community – which is in line with Government policy. "Details of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment carried out and updated in 2019 can be found on our website." Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp, click the link to join
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Police, bylaw officers move in on Coquitlam encampment
Vancouver Watch The city moved in to clear an encampment outside a homeless shelter, but the province says not enough is being done to set up supportive housing in the Tri-Cities.
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
City and province point fingers as encampment outside Coquitlam homeless shelter cleaned up
The city moved in to clear an encampment outside a homeless shelter, but the province says not enough is being done to set up supportive housing. Almost as soon as the homeless shelter at 3030 Gordon Ave. in Coquitlam opened its doors, people began living in tents outside. The encampment has grown over the years, and the city says it's become a hazard to residents and the neighbouring businesses. 'We have had close to 30 fires break out, including some residents that have very unfortunately been injured,' said Coquitlam Coun. Matt Djonlic. On Thursday morning, bylaw officers accompanied by RCMP moved in to clean up the camp, removing propane tanks and other combustable materials in preparation for a deep clean of the area, which has become a biohazard. 'This is not at all about removing tents, taking residents' personal possessions,' Djonlic said. 'This is about safety for the unhoused residents who are there, as well as the larger community.' The province says the encampment outside the Gordon Avenue shelter is proof there aren't enough supportive housing units in the region, and it blames local government. 'On several occasions, I've met with leadership of the Tri-Cities to say, 'We have dollars, we will put the dollars in place if you identify a site that you have that you will zone to allow this type of housing,'' said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. 'We are ready to move. And every time we've raised that issue, we've heard, 'Somebody else should do it.'' Djonlic insists the city isn't blocking more supportive housing in Coquitlam. 'This idea of simply, 'Give us city land.' It's a lot more complex than what the minister, I think, is making it out to be,' he said. 'Where would that be? Where does that make sense? And again, I remind the minister, we have done exactly that, and we are being met with challenges outside 3030 Gordon. We cannot have another case of a shelter like this where we are having encampments outside,' Djonlic said. The CEO of a medical clinic near the Gordon Avenue shelter has pleaded with the city to do something about the encampment. 'Our concern is to have safe environments for our patients, for our staff,' said Arash Boloori of MedRay Imaging. 'We have had many issues for our patients and staff.' He says there have been broken windows, human feces and dead bodies outside the clinic, and he's been forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars in security to keep staff and patients safe. 'I think those concerns are valid, and it's exactly where we run into instances where neighborhoods push back,' said Djonlic. 'And we are seeing now other local governments who are pointing to 3030 Gordon and saying, 'Look how it doesn't work in Coquitlam, that's why we aren't going to offer it in our communities.'' The councillor wants to see a commitment for more wraparound supports from the province before another shelter is opened in Coquitlam, but the housing minister insists nothing can happen without a parcel of land from the city. 'Many communities are stepping forward with locations, but Tri-Cities is one of the more frustrating areas in the province right now where there is a significant need, but we just cannot find the locations to get this housing on the ground,' said Kahlon. After the cleanup is complete, Djonlic knows most – if not all – of the people who had tents outside the Gordon Avenue shelter will return, and they won't be forced to leave. 'They don't have elsewhere to go,' he said. Maggie Moudatsos is one of them. She's split her time between the shelter and the encampment outside for the past three years. 'We are not here to be slobs, we are not here to interfere, but where are we supposed to go?' she said. 'I'm on disability. Who will rent to me? And for how much?' For her, and a handful of other entrenched residents, the encampment is home.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Lethbridge saw a 15% increase in homelessness from 2022 to 2024: report
Lethbridge city council heard, in an update on its homeless encampment strategy, that more camps were found in the city. More people are experiencing homelessness in Lethbridge than two years ago, according to the results of a recent report conducted by the City of Lethbridge. The 2024 Point-in-Time (PiT) Count shows there were 522 individuals experiencing homelessness in the city, compared to 454 in 2022, a 15 per cent increase. 'At first glimpse, it would be nice to see that number showing a negative increase – that we've actually been improving our situation as it relates to homelessness in our community – but I do think there are some promising underlaying stats there,' said Andrew Malcolm, general manager of community social development with the City of Lethbridge. The report shows while the number has grown, the rate of increase has 'slowed significantly,' dropping from an average annual growth rate of 19.5 per cent between 2018 and 2022, to 7.1 per cent annually between 2022 and 2024. Of the 522 people counted, 92 of them were staying in emergency shelter, 274 stayed in an unsheltered location such as a park, bus shelter or car, 64 people were in transitional housing and 82 people stayed in institutional settings with out a permanent home to return to. 'We're also seeing higher volumes on the street as well,' said Cameron Kissick, chief operations officer with Streets Alive Mission. 'It's different demographics then we're used to dealing with, so we're seeing a bit of an increase.' The report says Indigenous individuals accounted for 68 per cent of those who disclosed their racial identity. The majority of people experiencing homelessness were male and between the ages of 25 and 44. The report says although 81 per cent of respondents had accessed emergency shelters in the past year, many reported avoiding them due to 'safety concerns and overcrowding.' High rent costs, lack of income assistance and low income were listed as the most cited obstacles, according to the report. 'I'm hopeful that some of the things that we've put in place over the last three to five years are starting to have an effect on that number,' said Malcolm. 'We have built some stronger collaborations, we've seen investment from all three levels of government into the area of homelessness and housing, and we've seen some changes around Indigenous-led solutions being led by the government of Alberta and Blood Tribe Department of Health.' On Oct. 8, 2024, a team of staff took to the streets of downtown Lethbridge and other identified areas between 6 and 10 p.m. to reach those unsheltered. The teams asked screening questions such as age, gender, ethnicity, history of homelessness and health challenges. People that wished not to participate but demonstrated qualities consistent with homelessness were recorded on a tally sheet with a description to validate their assessment, according to the report. Malcolm says programs and initiatives put forward by the city have yielded positive results over the recent years. 'This 2024 count was before the shelter expansion and a number of housing projects that have been recently announced have come online, so we're hopeful those projects will further influence the trend as we will be looking at our PiT count in 2025,' explained Malcolm. Malcolm says the encampment strategy has triaged more than 2,200 encampment-related sites since 2023, with more than 85,000 kilograms of debris removed. The city says since it brought outreach services in-house, there have been a 263 per cent increase in outreach intakes, and a 318 per cent increase in referrals. From August 2024 to April 2025, 19 people exited homelessness, compared to none the previous year. Malcolm says the report reinforces the urgent need for expanded shelter capacity, affordable housing options and trauma-informed, culturally appropriate supports. For support providers like Streets Alive, Kissick says more housing supports are needed to help make a 'true difference.' 'It would be nice to see supports go with each other, rather than just housing or just mental health supports or just addictions treatment – to having them run concurrently with each other so that you're able to offer more of a well-rounded support,' said Kissick.
CBS News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Oakland teacher speaks out against homeless sweeps, cites broken promises by city
When Travis Walker isn't teaching, he and his partner provide warm meals and resources at a homeless encampment site in East Oakland. "It just feels cruel, it just feels cruel," Walker told CBS News Bay Area. "The city hasn't provided this encampment specifically with any sort of services to make it livable out here." He said he is disappointed by Mayor Barbara Lee's actions in enacting encampment sweeps. "I voted for Barbara Lee because she said she wasn't going to do this, and it's crushing," Walker said. "Their policy explicitly says they're not going to do sweeps before they've connected people with housing, mental health services and addiction services, and these people haven't been connected to housing." Operation Dignity in Oakland has been underway for more than a week now, as the city tries to get those unhoused into shelters. However, limited shelter spaces have been problematic in actually getting individuals off the streets. Heidi Almendarez is one of dozens of unhoused people living along East 12th Street, between 45th and 47th streets. She said she's been in this encampment site on and off for about eight years. "Well, we're being moved again, but they're not offering us no housing, no anything. This is like the third move that we had, within a year, I would say," Almendarez told CBS News Bay Area. Law enforcement officials were in the neighborhood at 9 o'clock sharp in the morning on Monday, promptly enforcing these encampment sweeps. For Almendarez, she said she unfortunately knows the drill. "On 66th, they took my car, which was where I was living out of. And right now, they're about to take the trailer that I'm in. I don't know what's going to happen after that, you know?" Almendarez said. "They provided, I think, a spot for me in downtown Oakland, but I couldn't go because they didn't have my dog's records. They didn't have his shots and that stalled it, and they told me that I couldn't go," she added. So she came back to this encampment in East Oakland for the time being, but now she is on the go again. "Shelters are all full, or some of them are closed down. It's hard," she said. An Oakland city spokesperson sent CBS News Bay Area this statement: "Operation Dignity has been on the ground for more than a week working with individuals to review all resources that may be available for each individual case. We currently have limited shelter availability, and Operation Dignity is also partnering with nonprofits and the County of Alameda to monitor resources that may become available through the schedule of this operation. This encampment closure operation is posted for a duration of three weeks, and as we work through shelter limitations, we will be prioritizing removal of debris and stolen vehicles, and prioritizing individual closures where we observe life safety issues." Walker said he wanted to make it clear that the dumping problem goes far beyond the encampment. "Because they're dumping in the encampment, I think a lot of people assume that it's the unhoused people out here who are making that mess but it's mostly not. They contribute for sure, but a lot of the time it's car bumpers, it's couches, it's those sorts of things they simply don't own," he said. He adds that sweeps are not the solution, as the unhoused continue to bounce from one area to another. "These are their homes, and if you're not going to give them somewhere new to live, why are you taking their homes from them?" Walker said. He adds that many unhoused people say they are also worried for their safety in the shelters. "Many of the residents are scared to be in the shelters and don't feel safe because they have been attacked, assaulted, and had their personal belongings stolen in shelters, which has been horrible for their mental health and physical safety," he said. "They don't even have enough beds in general." As for Almendarez, she doesn't know where she's going to go next. "Other things that they could have taken, not my house. But they took it. I mean, they didn't care. They didn't give me anything, you know?" she said. But she hopes that she can soon find a home without the fear of being kicked out again.
