What are the next steps as homeless camp is displaced and cleaned up?
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Starting on Wednesday, October 18th, the homeless encampment along MLK Parkway and North Kerr Avenue in Wilmington is being cleared out and cleaned up.
According to the Good Shepherd Center’s executive director, Katrina Knight, most of the nearly 100 people in the camp will likely disperse and find other places to go in Wilmington.
However, there are few options available.
Currently, many shelters are already at capacity and there are also fewer shelters than there used to be several years ago.
Additionally, New Hanover County does not allow sleeping overnight on county property.
Knight said that while breaking up the homeless camp won’t fix the problem, she understands why the decision was made to do it.
“The city and the county are in a tough spot,” Knight said. “They don’t want to be hard-hearted or difficult towards people who are clearly in a really tough situation and struggling. At the same time, I think they’re trying to respond to community concerns of safety and health concerns around the growth of that camp.”
While there aren’t many solutions available at the moment, there are people who are trying to do what they can to help out.
Krista Bland has over 100 mattresses left behind due to a hotel renovation, and she hopes to find a way to get them to those in need.
“We would hope that the mattresses would be used for the displaced homeless in the Wilmington area,” Bland said. We know that there are going to be beds in need and we hope they can get a good use out of them.”
However, Knight said it doesn’t matter what solutions might be put in place as it isn’t as simple as finding enough shelter for the displaced homeless.
“People will say they’re choosing to be homeless,” Knight said. “Often, there is, at the very least, a mental health issue at play where they’re not able, perhaps, to weigh their choices like you or I would. And so, to your average person, if there is space at Good Shepherd or another shelter, it just seems like a no-brainer that someone would, would automatically go and seek those services.”
