OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – Advocates are raising concerns about the treatment of homeless people following rumblings from city and county officials trying to close access to a popular camping spot.
There is a green space behind the Orrin King Building in Oshkosh and some grilles are used to ventilate the building. In recent months, a group of homeless people have set up camp here, saying it’s one of the better outdoor options for them in the city.
“It’s close to the Salvation Army where the food is, it’s close to the police station where you’re safe,” said Jessica, a woman who lives here. “Everything is safe here.”
Homeless people tell Local 5 News the grilles are key to understanding what makes this such a good place. Warm air flows out of the grilles, keeping them warm in the winter, and cool air comes out in the summer months.
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Winnebago County officials have now floated the idea of building a fence around those grilles.
“We need to be treated more like people and not like a problem,” said Jon, who lives behind the Orrin King building.
County officials said the reason they are considering fencing the grilles is because they pose a safety risk. A district official who works in the principal’s office said that if people live on and near the grilles, they accidentally drop items in them. This disrupts the building’s ventilation system, creating an unsafe situation for both people inside and outside the building.
County officials also said they are concerned about drug paraphernalia in the area.
Community members who advocate for the homeless held a press conference Thursday afternoon behind the Orrin King building. They said they were shocked to learn of the province’s plan to potentially shield the grilles.
“I was outraged, I can’t even believe that would be considered,” said Katie Olson, lead organizer for ESTHER, a social justice organization in Fox Valley. “Even talking about it is an injustice that we would spend provincial money (on this).”
Both ESTHER officials and some people who live behind the Orrin King building say police officers have asked people there to move elsewhere and threatened to write citations.
ESTHER officials say telling homeless people to move is problematic because they could lose essential supplies like medications and they could lose their established support networks.
“We should not punish people for simply engaging in essential biological life support activities such as sleeping and resting,” an ESTHER official said at the press conference.
Although the Orrin King building belongs to the county, Oshkosh police handle calls for help outside of it. A spokesperson for the Oshkosh Police Department said officers are not telling people camping behind the Orrin King building to look elsewhere.
“We have been working with other agencies and organizations to assist Oshkosh’s homeless population for several years, including the Day-by-Day Warming Shelter and the Tiny House Village,” the police spokesperson wrote in an email to Local 5 News. . “We are currently (along with other city departments) part of both short- and long-term coalitions with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation to come up with solutions and ideas for actionable ways to help the homeless.”
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Oshkosh City Manager Mark Rohloff said police have only been reported once in the area surrounding the Orrin King building in recent months. He said the quote was about a person who turned on a car radio very loudly in the morning and disturbed the homeless people who were trying to sleep.
He also said city police did not tell anyone to leave the area.
“We don’t have a loitering ordinance and we don’t have a law against homelessness, so it’s really about activities that disrupt public health or safety. Those are the things we’re going to focus on and so far we haven’t had that,” Rohloff said .
Winnebago County has a camping ban on county park property. However, the green space of the Orrin King Building is not considered a park. A person from the district administration said that they are not against the people living there and that they have not told any of the people there to find a new place to live.
Local 5 News filed a records request seeking information about recent interactions between officers and homeless people behind the Orrin King building. We hope this information will clarify whether police have told people to find another place to stay.
A spokesperson for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office said their department has not taken any law enforcement action in that regard.
ESTHER officials said they met with a number of provincial officials Thursday afternoon before the news conference to discuss possible solutions. They said they have meetings scheduled for next week with other county and city officials.
An ESTHER official who spoke with Local 5 News said she is cautiously optimistic that they will be able to find a solution that is in the best interest of all parties involved.
They said the area’s homeless population is increasing while affordable housing is decreasing. They said there are about three times more people experiencing homelessness than there are beds in area homeless shelters.
“People have a right to exist, whether they have money or a job,” said Jon, one of the people living outside the Orrin King building.
“There’s nowhere else for them, they’re here because they have nowhere else to go,” Olson said.
Officials at First Presbyterian Church said they also allowed homeless people to camp on their property, but the city said they could no longer do that because the church property is not designated for camping.
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