CHICAGO (CBS) – City workers cleared what is believed to be the largest homeless encampment in Chicago in Humboldt Park on Friday.
Several dozen people have been living in tents in Humboldt Park for months, if not longer, and advocates have asked the city to reconsider the plan to evict them, but on Friday morning, city workers began removing the tents.
Some people living there said they felt disrespected by the forced move, but the city said they had been offering new housing options for a year and a half and warned that this would happen.
Signs around the park warned Friday that “the encampments will be demolished,” and that plan was put into motion shortly after dawn.
Some who lived there said they are still dealing with the fact that their old home will be gone.
“I have mixed feelings, so much so that I feel like we are being disrespected. They tore down our house before we could clean it up – we would be respectful enough to get out,” Melissa Johnson said.
Volunteers from homeless advocacy groups went from tent to tent to see if any residents were still there. After the cleanup, Chicago police and the park district would enforce municipal codes banning overnight stays and tents in the park.
Advocates have asked the city to reconsider, in part because the city has not provided realistic alternatives for places for residents to go. The city has since offered residents access to supportive services and the ability to move into housing or shelters — something advocates say happened on an “accelerated timeline.”
Friday morning’s closure would be the final step in an 18-month process designed to accommodate the park’s residents.
Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) said that since last year, more than 100 people living there have been linked to housing through these accelerated moving events. That is 106 people, housed in apartments. About 21 people living in the park were placed in shelters, with some awaiting completion of those housing units.
“We don’t want people to sleep in the cold or have to expose themselves in a tent, but to have the city’s resources behind them,” Fuentes said. “Everyone assigned to an apartment will receive two years of case management so he or she can become self-sufficient on the path to permanent housing.”
This all comes as Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a plan to close migrant shelters by the end of the year.
Beginning January 1, the city will implement a “one system initiative” to address the issues of homelessness and immigrants in Chicago.
