Work Moves Forward On Shutting Down Tent City
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DALLAS (CBS11) - Kerwin Reece has his electronic tablet, his cell phone and his headsets.
He doesn't have internet service, which is why he sits outside Dallas' Central Library daily.
Reece is homeless. So too are the dozen or so other men sitting along the pews of the public space.
The men, along with some women, join a reporter-driven conversation about Dallas' largest homeless commune, Tent City.
"They can tear it down, but where do you think they're going to go," Reece asks.
"I used to live there. It needs to go," Wesley Harris, another homeless library visitor quipped.
By the end of this week, two sections of the homeless encampment that sits under I-45 just south and east of downtown will be dismantled.
But the tear down only eliminates the largest unauthorized homeless configuration. There are dozens of others.
"There are 100 encampments throughout Dallas, says Sam Merten, COO of The Bridge, Dallas' designated day shelter and service center for homeless men and women. "The reality is, anybody that thinks the closure of tent city will lead to an impactful reduction in homelessness is naive," Merten cautioned.
According to Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, 3,900 people were listed as homeless at the beginning of 2016.
Thousands live in temporary and emergency housing programs, while 800 others use streets and underpasses.
Many from Tent City have already moved to other makeshift communes, including an underpass at I-30 & Haskell near Fair Park.
Cindy Crain leads MDHA.
She walked the various sections of Tent City on Monday, checking to determine an accurate account of those who've found alternate living accommodations.
"Closing Tent City is not ending homelessness," says Crain. When we focus on outreach it can end unsheltered homelessness. We are seeing that everyday."
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