Officials clear out Downtown encampment, leaving some residents uncertain about what's next

By Jordan Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Living off the intersection of Grant Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard was never easy, but Red made it work.

The 42-year-old, who chose to withhold her name for privacy, used a portion of a couch as a mattress. She washed her clothes in 5-gallon Home Depot buckets, only leaving them out to dry during the day so they don’t get stolen. Just recently, she reinforced her tent with wood pallets to make it more durable. 

Now everything Red owns sits in a few plastic boxes. Less than a week ago, the city notified her and others that they had to vacate their tent community.

“These are our homes,” she said.

By the Thursday 5 p.m. deadline, city workers cleared a dozen tents from the area as safety concerns continue to escalate. Public safety officials said they had received complaints related to drug use, sexual violence and other criminal activity.

About 20 officers raided the camp in August to arrest three people, who did not live in the encampment, for drug-related offenses.

Camila Alarcon-Chelecki, who oversees the city's Office of Community Health and Safety, said the situation was impacting the quality of life of those who live in the camp, as well as those living and working nearby. Accumulating garbage and human waste posed a “public health threat,” she said. 

“No one likes to decommission,” Ms. Alarcon-Chelecki said. “Decommission is always our last option. But, unfortunately, when the camp can't be sustained and is no longer safe to the people in the community and the people living there, there's no choice.”

Notices were placed around the camp a week before it was cleared out, a provision of a new set of guidelines requiring officials to give encampment residents advance notice and to store personal belongings for at least a year if they are unable to identify the owner.

Ricky Junior, who only wanted to be identified by his first name to maintain privacy, said since September, he’s had a bed at Pittsburgh Mercy's Reedsdale facility, but he would still occasionally sleep at the encampment. 

“It’s everything that I needed to be, it's a roof, showers, food, storage,” he said. “But I would love to be somewhere else, because it's just a gymnasium with bunk beds.”

He said camp residents have come to expect instability, but he wished the city gave them more time to consider their options. 

“It's like you have to make a decision about the indefinite future of your life in a day,” he said. “Nobody really had a plan.”

Ms. Alarcon-Chelecki said outreach workers have come to the encampment every day for months to connect with those living there regarding housing and other resources. 

She did say that if an encampment resident declined to take shelter bed one day, someone else on the county’s waiting list could claim that spot. But there was always a bed available for those who wanted it.

“Unfortunately, people decline, and it would be unfair for the rest of the unhoused community to keep those beds on hold,” she said. “We have to work with the best we can with what’s available.”

By Thursday afternoon, four of the 12 encampment residents had housing elsewhere that they chose to return to, Ms. Alarcon-Chelecki said. Others took openings at local shelters, or were relocated to another part of the city. Two people were still undecided on next steps. 

“We will work with them to relocate them to a place where they feel safe,” she said.

For residents, it’s hard to know who to trust. Ricky Junior said he was approached by someone offering help at the camp who advised him to sleep there for the next few days. That person claimed doing so would get him top priority for housing.

Now he’s unsure if he still has a bed at the Reedsdale facility to return to. A city staffer is looking into his situation, he said.

Ms. Alarcon-Chelecki said no one on her team would have provided such “irresponsible” advice, and people posing as outreach staff were misleading residents. 

Despite the uncertainty ahead, residents are trying to remain hopeful. Red says she hopes to rebuild at another encampment that’s more secluded and safe. Ricky Junior wants to return to a housekeeping job he previously held at the University of Pittsburgh and find an apartment nearby in Oakland. 

“The next place will be better,” he said.