Encampment Cleaned Up But Problems Persist for Homeless Folks
Last week’s cleanup of the homeless encampment area off of Green Lane in Bristol Borough created quite a stir, with the aim of tidying up the area and referring folks to area services.
The cleanup operation involving Bristol Borough Public Works, Police, Emergency Management,Bucks Co-Responders with major operational help from Denucci Excavating was completed by Wednesday.
The work done at the sites makes it almost unrecognizable to the eye, except the work truck tire markings identify the locations where the cleanup was performed.
Days before the cleanup public safety officials were out re-posting warning signs along the walkways and in and around the areas frequented by persons who are displaced.
In recent weeks the site came into focus once again due to the arrest of one man for demanding “meth’ and setting fires at the site.
East ward council members Lorraine Cullen and Gregg Pezza at council meetings have discussed their concerns about the encampment. Both have sought discussions with area officials on how to help solve encampment issues while also getting help for those living at the site.
We are not looking to harm those folks” Pezza said earlier this summer. We really do want to help. At the same time we can’t have people living back there. It’s not a healthy situation.
Cullen and Pezza also expressed concerns about folks from the site committing alleged thefts in their ward also.
When cleanup operations began Monday morning no one was at each of the sites residing in the area behind Wawa and Lumberman Associates. As resource measure Chief of Police Joe Moors requested county co-responders be on hand to facilitate resource coordination for those seeking help and support.
Moors who has been engaging those living in the encampment areas, offering linkage to any and all services said the cleanup isn’t meant to mean in any way.
“We’ve been working with multiple agencies to help relocate the individuals living in the woods to a safe place to live. No one has been living there for the past weeks. The area is (was) full of trash, propane tanks, and a couple of abandoned vehicles. The area is being cleaned up and made safe,” the Chief of Police said.
The 2022 Point in Time Count conducted by Bucks County earlier this year showed a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness in throughout the county.
According to the report, the count found 427 people sleeping in emergency shelters, residing in transitional housing or living outdoors. The figure is a 48% increase from last year’s count, and is the county’s first recorded increase in homelessness in six years.
A major contributing factor cited in the report for the rise in homelessness in Bucks County were the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, where jobs were lost. Additionally, once the CDC moratorium on evictions was halted almost a year ago to the day, the floodgates, so to speak opened up and an untold number of folks who once had jobs, were now being evicted.
Even with Bucks County’s best efforts to stem the tide of pending and newly fled evictions with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
According to a WHYY report, from earlier this year, Southeastern Pennsylvania Legal Aid said about 2,000 eviction notices were filed in Bucks County in 2020, and almost 3,000 were filed in 2021. In just the last three months, 860 have been filed.
Another factor known among those displaced and often discussed, was the move by Bensalem Township to stop SEPTA buses from entering Neshaminy Mall in April of 2021, which many say led them to Bristol.
The unintended consequence was an influx of those traveling to Neshamminy Mall now redirecting their travels to either the B-129 or B-128 bus. Each travels through the Bristol area with the 129 operating until just before midnight.
Over the last two years Lower Bucks Source has spoken to a myriad of folks who say that’s how they wound up in the Bristol area.
None of those folks wanted to be identified by this publication in stories, but made it clear that’s how they came to find a “home” in Bristol.
Ami K, who was staying in the wooded area said she came back to the site to collect her belongings with a friend named “Dave,” an older gentleman on the morning the clean up launched,She said she’s originally from Montgomery County and came to Bristol with her friend months after she lost her home health care job.
“We had no idea this was happening today. Glad I wasn’t back there when this all started” holding two plastic bags under her arms, while pushing a shopping cart.
Ami said she’s been living in woods at different locations “for months now.” She said finding help has been next to impossible because she doesn’t have a cell phone to make the needed calls to access help and services.
“It’s just an endless mess” she said, walking off, provided with contact information for help.
On Sunday night Lower Bucks Source revisited the encampment sites finding no one there, but many wandering in and around the area by bike or on foot and the site entirely cleaned up.
Several individuals interviewed by this publication haven’t been seen since the cleanup launched last week.
If you are experiencing a housing crisis you can call The Bucks County Housing Link 1-800-810-4434 or Advocates for the Homeless and Those in Need 215-550-3868 for help.
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