How to help Lawrence people experiencing homelessness during the cold snap
Advocates for people experiencing homelessness are looking for supplies and volunteer help as snow and dangerously cold wind chills approach Lawrence.
Advocates for people experiencing homelessness are looking for supplies and volunteer help as snow and dangerously cold wind chills approach Lawrence.
With dangerously cold temperatures in the forecast over the next several days, the Community Building will be open around the clock if the city can get enough volunteers.
The city’s homeless programs coordinator says a decision to close a North Lawrence campsite for people experiencing homelessness was solidified before she was consulted, and though she advocated against it, her supervisors dismissed her concerns and moved forward with the plan anyway.
”I wanted the full truth to come out because this community deserves transparency. I messed up. The city messed up. We need to do better. Our unsheltered neighbors deserve better,” Jenn Wolsey, homeless programs coordinator for the City of Lawrence, writes in this column.
Over a span of five days, people living at the campsite in North Lawrence were told they would soon need to move; then the city reversed course. In addition to the emotional rollercoaster the ordeal brought for residents of the camp, it has raised questions about decisions made behind closed doors.
After hearing concerns from dozens of community members Tuesday night, the City of Lawrence announced Wednesday that the North Lawrence camp for people experiencing homelessness will remain open for the winter.
Thirty people pleaded with city commissioners at their meeting Tuesday to reverse a staff decision to close the camp in North Lawrence for people experiencing homelessness. City commissioners did nothing in response.
The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday voted in favor of an ordinance change to create a protected class based on source of income, but will delay final approval in order to seek feedback from landlords.
The City of Lawrence said Tuesday morning that people experiencing homelessness are being cleared out of the camp in North Lawrence in order to “refocus resources” to the overnight Winter Emergency Shelter.
Jennifer Adams’ eyes were red Monday morning from crying off and on since Friday, when the city issued a batch of eviction notices to people experiencing homelessness at the support camp in North Lawrence.
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