Photo by Devin Smith.
This article has been updated to reflect comments from the D.C. deputy mayor for health and human services.
A regular at Miriam’s Kitchen came in for breakfast this morning, but the homeless man was so distressed about having to find a new place to sleep at night that he was checked into a hospital, according to Kurt Runge, director of advocacy at the nonprofit serving the homeless. “This man needs a safe place to call home, not an expensive hospital room,” he said.
Up until now, the man has lived regularly at a homeless encampment near Rock Creek Parkway, Runge says. But on Monday, Deputy Mayor Brenda Donald visited the site at 27th Street and Virginia Avenue and told inhabitants that it was time to go, WJLA reported. Donald said that not only is camping at the outdoor space a health issue for those doing so, but it’s also illegal.
City agencies have tried to provide resources to these inhabitants for months, Donald said in a statement. During this time period, 14 individuals have relocated to housing, and in the coming days, the city will “continue to clean encampment sites and work to provide residents with access to the services they need to get off the streets,” Donald told DCist.
But some of the site’s inhabitants told WTOP today that they aren’t moving at all.
Long-term housing is vital, says Runge, who helped launch The Way Home, a campaign to end chronic homelessness in the city. Many people resist living in shelters because they don’t feel safe, he continued, pointing out that a man was just killed last week outside the New York Avenue Men’s Emergency Shelter, run by Catholic Charities.
The government can displace or ticket those living in the encampment, but the problems will resurface elsewhere, he says. And for those neighbors—living in permanent residences—who have complained about the homeless: “people who are homeless are also our neighbors,” Runge says. “And they need a place to go.” They need “long-term solutions to homelessness,” like housing.
Last month, The Washington Post ran a feature about Arnold Harvey, a veteran and garbage man who began distributing tents at the site near Rock Creek Park to keep the homeless “safer and let them sleep better.”
Homelessness in D.C. is up 11 percent since 2011.
