City clears Bloomington homeless camp near Wheeler Mission where two were murdered
Did you know that dousing a rag with hand sanitizer and igniting it inside a metal pan will heat the interior of a tent when the temperature gets to zero degrees?
Walter Abbey, who's been homeless off and on for years, used this method when this month's freezing cold snap hit Bloomington. But he still got frostbite on his feet.
It was much warmer on Thursday when a city worker told the 70-year-old man his 12-by-12-foot tent and belongings were going to cleared out from a homeless camp behind Wheeler Mission.
Abbey said he's been living there a few months. His tent sits in a clearing at the bottom of a mud-slick hill across a gravel lane behind the Wheeler Mission complex on Westplex Avenue, off West Third Street.
He moved there after being flooded out of a camp behind the Ford dealership on South Walnut Street where he had lived for years.
There have been two recent murders near his new home in the encampment behind Wheeler, where a few dozen people have resided in recent months.
A man was killed with a machete in December and this month, another man was shot in the head. The suspects charged with murder were other unhoused people living in the camp who knew their victims.
Thursday morning, after last week's posting of a no-trespassing notice on the city-owned property, workers arrived to move out the people who remained, collect belongings and clear debris.
In a statement this week about plans to remove the camp, the city said "significant safety concerns" had to be addressed.
Thursday was gray, rainy and foggy, matching the mood of people being moved out and the social service workers helping them gather up items and find a place to go. Several people leaving said they would find another place to camp.
City spokeswoman Angela Van Rooy said while the city recognizes some unhoused people would rather camp than be sheltered, "ensuring that everyone in our community is safe is our top priority."
Abbey said he's moving on. "I'll probably look somewhere along the B-Line for a spot." He lives with his dog, called Charlie Brown, and another unhoused man who helps take care of the older man. Abbey isn't interested in sleeping at a shelter. He wants to live on his own outside where nobody bothers him or his dog.
His tent and belongings are not on the city-owned portion of the camp, so it wasn't clear if city officials would enter his site Thursday.
For the second time since being sworn in as mayor Jan. 1, Kerry Thomson appeared at the scene of a homeless camp clearing where officials had determined public safety was at risk.
The first was a smaller encampment on city land at Patterson Drive and Fairview Street, where several fires and the proximity to a neighborhood caused concerns.
City workers, including Thomson, cleared out that camp on Jan. 4. She vowed then the city would move forward with "dignity and compassion" in dealing with homeless camps and their residents.
Thursday, a dump truck hauled in gravel to cover the mud-slogged trails through the camp so tents and structures could be removed. A few dozen workers, including police social workers, health service providers and street crews, were brought in to assist, as were multiple skid loaders and other heavy equipment.
One campsite that appeared to be abandoned was littered with unopened cans of corn and beans, empty single-serving Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal cups, a toothbrush in a plastic sheath, a collapsed tent, a travel-size Axe deodorant, a metal crutch, a large piece of drywall that served as flooring, one black Dockers' dress loafer shoe and a lot more.
Nearby sat an open-end 20-yard dumpster that would soon be filling up.
Thomson talked to some of the people who remained as reporters and photographers from four local media organizations documented the move out.
The mayor said the city will continue working in conjunction with organizations such as Bloomington-based Heading Home, an initiative funded with $5 million from the city and county. The nonprofit has a mandate to combat homelessness in Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Lawrence, Greene and Martin counties.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington clears encampment near Wheeler citing safety concerns
