City evicts homeless from camp by Cedar River

CEDAR RAPIDS - A group of transients ordered out of a homeless camp on city property and their supporters protested Wednesday evening outside City Hall, carrying signs that asked: 'Where do we go next?”

The homeless camp near Osborn Park has been a refuge for transients for some time. But it was a recent complaint about a bonfire there that led to the order to leave the property by Wednesday and to the protest later.

One man affiliated with the camp said the move leaves the homeless people affected - particularly those struggling with addiction - with one less place to go.

'It's been existence off and on for a couple of years,” said Daniel Reed. 'It's been somewhat of a safe place to go for the homeless, especially the men that are homeless. ... Where are they supposed to go?”

Reed - who has never stayed at the camp, but has been there - said he has served as a mediator for the group at the camp and has provided people there with pallets and plastic.

Reed said he suggested a while ago that the group organize a hierarchy of president, vice president and sergeant-at-arms. That organization then removed a criminal element from the camp that was making methamphetamine, he said.

'The governing body got rid of them,” he said. 'They didn't want that down there.”

On Monday, however, members of the camp were told they had to leave the area, Reed said. He said he can't understand why the city wants them out.

'It floods out every year,” he said. 'I don't know why the city is raising a ruckus over it. Nobody wants that land. That land is never going to get used.”

Public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said the group's eviction began with complaints last week of a bonfire being built in the camp. An officer investigating the following day found 13 people with tents and a large fire.

On Monday, a lieutenant informed the group it was trespassing on city property and - like in a city park - people were not allowed to be there after 10 p.m.

Buelow noted that camping along the river creates the potential for tragedy, especially with cold weather approaching.

'It's not a permanent fix to have a tent along the river,” he said.

When the lieutenant told the homeless people they had to be out by sunset Wednesday, he also distributed packets of information on homeless shelters, places to receive free and reduced-cost medical care and cellphones, counseling services and job opportunities.

'Law enforcement enforces the law, but there's also the social services aspect,” Buelow said. 'Our hope is that by (Wednesday night) they've found another location.”

Reed, however, points out that some of the men - especially those succumbing to drug and alcohol addiction - would be precluded by rules from using shelters.

He said rising costs for deposits on apartments make it difficult to find permanent homes. Reed, for instance, gets more than $700 a month in Social Security benefits but has been forced to stay with friends because he cannot afford a deposit on an apartment in Cedar Rapids.

'It is alarming to wonder where you are going to go next,” Reed said. 'It almost comes to the point of insanity. I really sympathize for these people and what they're going through.”