GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — The City of Grand Rapids shut down an encampment at Heartside Park on Monday as people experiencing homelessness and advocates worked to find new accommodations.
"This sucks, this day sucks. Four days before Christmas," said Susan Wade, who has been living at the Grand Rapids park.
An estimated over 100 people were living at the park a few blocks from downtown as of this weekend. Many of them remained there Monday morning as city staff started making people leave after giving them notice last week citing a city ordinance.
The Center for Disease Control's guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic is to allow people living in encampments to remain where they are unless individual housing options are available.
The city says it's alternative of an emergency shelter meets CDC guidelines, given that the park had been deemed a 'public health threat' by the Kent County Health Department.
In recent weeks, an emergency shelter inside the vacant building at 250 Ionia Ave. SW has been set up through a partnership with the city, Mel Trotter Ministries and Guiding Light. The shelter can house up to 100 people and is open to men, women and couples. Mel Trotter says the emergency shelter is a necessity, as the organization nears capacity at its other facility.
However, many of the people living in the over 40 tents pitched at Heartside did not want to move into a congregate setting like the shelter due to varying concerns, including the risk of COVID-19.
The shelter opened Friday evening and about 20 people moved in by Saturday.
Syd Harvey, chief solutions officer for Mel Trotter, said he understands that some people would prefer to find another encampment.
"We want to make sure people understand we're not just about, 'you have to be in our place.' We're about saying, 'you have a resource available to you,'" Harvey said.
But, the city set a deadline of Dec. 21, as the last day people could continue living at the park.
"We applaud the city and community partners for making additional shelter space available. That's very important, but the reality is that some people are not going to access that shelter," said American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan Senior Staff Attorney Miriam Aukerman.
In a letter issued to city leaders Saturday, the ACLU of Michigan urged the city to halt the evictions at Heartside Park 'until safe, single occupancy accommodations, not just a congregate shelter, could be made available.'
"Why is the city moving forward, despite the clear CDC and Department of Health and Human Services guidance, saying you shouldn't do this? And what steps is the city going to take to make sure that people don't lose the very, very little that they have?" Aukerman said in an interview Monday.
Machelle Whipple said she doesn't make enough money to pay rent in the city, but she and others at the park also don't feel comfortable in a shelter setting.
"That's why we're all out here trying to survive, so where are all of us going to go?" she said.
As of Monday, the city says it is not considering other accommodations, but several community organizations are raising funds to provide short term housing, like hotel rooms.
Organizations including Together We Are Safe: Bridging the Gap, The Red Project, Citizens Leadership Council and Family Over Everything (FOE) were at the park to offer support to people being displaced.
"We're all working together to truly just continue to provide resources since there's not going to be one centralized location anymore," said Trev Gibson, vice president of FOE.
All day Monday, groups like FOE and the Citizens Leadership Council helped transport and support people moving out of the park.
"We're just bringing teams and boots on the ground, to be sure that people are getting to these new locations, and that we have tangible resources to still provide them," Gibson said.
And the organizations are calling on the city to learn the needs of people experiencing homelessness in order to develop long term solutions.
"The city has tried to group everyone together under one category," said Al Willis, president of the Citizens Leadership Council. "Not everyone's needs here are the same."
LaDonna Norman, with Together We Are Safe and in partnership with Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network, said the organizations provided over 150 propane tanks and also portable heaters to people at Heartside Park on Monday.
As the needs of people living at the park change, the two organizations have worked to purchase necessary items using donations.
Norman said the hope now is to secure funding for hotel rooms and storage space.
"There's a lack of concern, there's a lack of sympathy, empathy for our homeless community," Norman said. "There has to be something wrong with this picture if they'd rather sleep outside than go in there.
"We have to come up with some viable solutions," she said. "This is everybody's problem."
City Manager Mark Washington said the city hoped to get 'voluntary compliance' from everyone at Heartside Park.
He said the city's concern is the dropping temperatures, the lack of COVID-19 precautions and the unsanitary living conditions at the park, which the city says was determined in a KCHD assessment this weekend.
"It's a tough time for everyone that's involved and there are no easy solutions, and we're just trying to be as compassionate as possible in dealing with it," Washington said, after visiting the new emergency shelter.
Another concern advocates stressed was the loss of personal belongings as city staff cleared the park. Aukerman said this was a violation of rights, if people were not given a way to claim it.
City spokesperson Steve Guitar said the city is 'reserving' any personal belongings removed from park. He said people should contact Mel Trotter for information on how to get their items back.
Other items at the park including donated coats were thrown away out of a concern for public health, he said.
Organizations are raising funds to help those experiencing homelessness find new accommodations:
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