ST. LOUIS — Faced with imminent deadlines to move their encampments, some homeless residents say they don’t have clear or appealing options for where to go next — and are hoping the city can line up good alternatives or solutions before they’re made to relocate.
The city recently gave residents of various homeless encampments a 10-day warning to vacate the sites by Monday, citing health and safety concerns linked to poor conditions.
Since the April 21 announcement, officials have paused the proposed closure of an encampment on the Mississippi River, while working to line up bedding options for those who don’t want to go to a group shelter. But residents of another homeless encampment in downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ — on Carr Street, under the Interstate 44 overpass — still confront a Monday deadline to clear out.
As of Sunday afternoon, though, a small enclave of tents remained in place at the location, where residents said four or five people live, with others coming and going. At least one man who occupies the spot said he planned to wait things out until forced to relocate.
The man — who just gave his nickname, Decky, and age, 53 — said proposed alternatives in shelters did not appeal to him for a variety of reasons. He echoed some complaints recently raised by other homeless city residents, saying that shelters can have too many guidelines and problematic scheduling — often forcing people to leave in the morning before returning in the evening.
Additionally, he said that shelters tend to split up couples, by putting men in one place and women in another. He did not want to become separated from his partner.
Decky anticipates enduring more of the same rhythms of homeless life, but just in a different place if forced to move. He couldn’t speak for other residents at the Carr Street encampment, but thought they’d find ways to remain part of a group.
“Most groups move in groups,†said Decky. “We know each other.â€
Ideally, he said he hopes the city will invest in converting vacant spaces into sheltering options the homeless can use. He mentioned the Jefferson Arms — a hulking, long-vacant building on Tucker Boulevard — as one spot that the city could target for such a project, along with hotels and motels that otherwise see little to no use.
More uncertainty faced homeless residents across the city, at other pockets of tents camped alongside the River Des Peres, near Gravois Avenue.
Residents there were recently told by city representatives that they’d need to leave by around May 8, according to Nick White, a man who said he’d lived in that spot for “a while.†He estimated that about 12 people lived in the tents grouped on both sides of the Gravois bridge.
White said he was willing to cooperate with the city, but just hopes that a strong alternative plan is lined up before it’s time to leave.
“They can’t just expect us to up and leave,†White added. “Everybody’s got to go somewhere.â€
David Riefle, another man staying in a nearby tent across the river, raised the same concern about what comes next for homeless residents facing a potential treadmill of displacement.
“If they leave here, where else do they go?†he said. “They don’t want to just run them all over the city.â€
The office of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones referred to a release issued Friday stating that the encampments under Interstate 44 had been identified as safety hazards by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, the statement said that the city’s Department of Human Services has secured shelter beds for all 15 to 20 residents of the Mississippi River riverfront encampment and has worked for months to connect them to services. The agency “continues to connect with unhoused residents at River Des Peres as well to see what resources and services they need to transition into safe shelter spaces,†the mayor’s office said.
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Nick White stands in an encampment near the intersection of Gravois Avenue and River Des Peres Boulevard holding two plastic bags filled with food given to him by a local volunteer organization on Sunday, May 1, 2022. Photo by Zachary Clingenpeel, zclingenpeel@post-dispatch.com