City of St. Paul clears east side homeless encampment ahead of frigid temperatures
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The tents have come down at one of St. Paul's largest homeless encampments.
On Thursday, city crews cleared the encampment by Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, citing concerns over safety, fire danger and cleanliness.
The city gave the roughly 40 people living there a week's notice before crews arrived to close the camp. By Thursday, only a handful of people remained and began packing up their belongings.
"There's like a lot of criminal things going on around here, it's a lot of bad vibes," said Julin, who has experienced homelessness since the pandemic.
The city said they received more than 400 police calls and 50 fire and medical calls to the encampment since it popped up in the summer of 2023. There have also been several fires, adding to their safety concerns.
"Our goal is to get every single person who's willing to, into a warm, safe and clean environment tonight," St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said.
He connected with encampment residents and outreach workers Thursday as city crews began to use heavy machinery to clean the area, putting items and trash left behind in a dumpster. The city said they offered to store people's belongings if they needed.
"We work really carefully and frankly, really slowly with folks to build the trust and make sure they understand that the problem as far as our team is concerned, isn't that they are here, it's that they are homeless," Carter said.
For weeks, outreach workers offered shelter and services. Some accepted, while others did not.
"Through that relentless engagement, we're able to get traction and when people are ready, we're ready to help facilitate that spot inside," said Familiar Faces program administrator Kris Michaels.
A person who had lived at the encampment for about a year told WCCO they planned to move to another encampment in the city. Carter said their work will continue.
"If folks move from here to another space in the city, we'll know where they are, and we'll continue to work to try to move them into a safer space," he said.