Post last updated at 9:37 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15:
Many residents of the camp behind the Amtrak station in East Lawrence thought Tuesday was the day they were expected to move out of the area. Some people were up all night getting ready to go.
Palpable tension hung in the air as several folks ate breakfast around small cooking fires. But the hour of 8 a.m. had come and gone without the Homeless Response Team or other city employees showing up. People looked over their shoulders as they waited.
People were also surprised and confused when the HRT did a walkthrough around 10:30 a.m. but apparently weren’t there to help anyone move. The last time the city closed a major camp, it was bulldozed the same day, so residents expected the same schedule this time around.
Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire said Tuesday was the final day for people to move out.
“As of yesterday, all residents of the camp had moved except two who were undecided about their next step,” McGuire said in emailed responses to questions about what was going on. “Today, the HRT checked in with those two individuals and provided some items they requested. They did not request our help to move, one has left camp.”
But more than 10 camp residents talked with reporters throughout the morning, some as they worked to get things packed up and ready to move or collected trash. Although there were a lot fewer tents still up and occupied than there had been Thursday, there were far more than two.
“To our knowledge everyone who has been living at the camp either has or is planning to relocate,” McGuire said. “We have walked through periodically today and noticed several new individuals in and around the camp that have identified they are here to clean up or provide support.”
Several of the residents who spoke with this publication Tuesday have been living at the camp for multiple months or years.
McGuire also said that “Unlike our last encampment closure, we did not have 25 people moving at the last minute because It’s been an ongoing effort. To our knowledge, there is not one person in Amtrak today that was asking for assistance moving anything.”
One woman was dismayed to hear that the HRT had already left Tuesday afternoon.
A mattress bearing the message “Need yalls help!!! SOS” sat near a dumpster outside the camp, aimed at the train station across the tracks where the Homeless Response Team meets and visible from the platform where the team congregated Tuesday morning before setting off into the camp.
City spokespeople did not respond to an email prior to publication seeking to clarify the discrepancy between what was happening and McGuire’s statements.
After this article was published, they sent the following, attributed to McGuire: “As we said, the HRT also observed numerous people there today for different reasons. We have been working with people known to be living there and can only speak from our knowledge of those individuals based on our latest contact with them. The population has been fluid, and some people have come into the camp or moved back to the camp as recently as today. There are structures and tents spread across the area. Most (tents) have been vacated at this point.”
Some independent advocates were still on hand Tuesday afternoon to help people move.
Lil Nicci, a resident of the Amtrak camp, said she’s been on the streets for 20-some years. It’s been a difficult time for people living at the camp.
“Everybody was so angry here last night, you could feel it,” said Nicci, Northern Ute from the White River Band. “… We are a family and we do look out for each other, and they are ripping us apart.”
She said early Tuesday morning that she just wants things to be peaceful.
“Where we are at right now is a spiritual place,” she said. “This is where people have been calling their homes for like five or so years. It’s not fair.”
Though the city announced plans and placed signs at the camp two months ago that said Oct. 15 would be the closure date, some people said they wanted to stay at the camp as long as they could.
“I am going to be here until somebody makes me leave. So really, it’s just kind of making me feel impatient,” said Clover, 21, who has stayed at the camp for about a month. “There’s so much here that needs to be protected — like, we live here.”
Rachel Schwaller, a KU professor whose research includes encampments and alternative settlements, shared her impressions after speaking with some of the residents still at the camp Tuesday.
“They’re mad at everybody. They’re mad at the papers for advertising that it would be today, even though that’s what the city told them,” she said. “They’re mad because they have had all of this drama, all of this worry, all of this anxiety, and then nothing ends up happening.”
Not everyone was mad, however, she said — some were confused, but that aligned with their expectations.
McGuire said cleanup would start Wednesday, “after the site is vacated.” That cleanup will not involve the Homeless Response Team.
“The cleanup and remediation area will be marked and all members of the public need to remain outside of the boundary to ensure safety,” McGuire said.
“We are not bulldozing the camp. The Parks, Recreation, Arts and Culture department and Municipal Services & Operations department are doing cleanup and remediation,” McGuire said. “We will utilize hand tools (e.g. litter pickers), skid steers, and trucks to haul waste. Care must be taken to leave trees and native vegetation as undisturbed as possible. Invasive species (e.g. Honeysuckle) will be cutback after initial cleanup and trees will be evaluated for pruning.”
Asked about the procedure if people’s belongings are still at the camp when cleanup begins, McGuire reiterated that the city has offered for more than two months to help people relocate or store their belongings.
“Any belongings of personal significance, such as government issued identification, valuables, etc. will be collected and saved for people to reclaim,” he said. “We have provided individual bins to organize these materials.”
He said law enforcement “will be available to help if needed, but the majority of our team members working on the cleanup are from field maintenance crews.”
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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