HOUSTON – City crews in protective gear dismantled a homeless encampment Friday under the Southwest Freeway near midtown.
Volunteers are working to relocate the people living there, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced.
Turner called Houston's homeless problem a public health crisis.
The camp, located along Wheeler next to a Fiesta grocery store, has long been a problem for nearby homeowners who say they’ve had their property vandalized by those who live in the camp. There have also been fatal shootings nearby, most recently in September.
"It's not an area that anyone should be living in or around," said Mark Eichenbaum with the mayor's Homeless Initiative program.
The "tent city" has been home to as many as 70 people, mostly men.
"The people who are out here are often times, people who have multiple, co-occurring physical and behavior health problems," Eva Thibaudeau with the Coalition for the Homeless.
City personnel are working with The Houston Coalition for the Homeless, The Way Home collaborative and the Texas Department of Transportation to move residents of the camp and clean up the area.
"We've housed up to 45 of those into permanent housing with their name on the lease, and we're continuing to work with about 25 of them, to navigate them into housing," Thibaudeau said.
They also offered them free storage for their belongings.
Notices went up Tuesday about the pending cleanup and fencing, according to Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner says residents who choose to do so will be moved into permanent housing, and the property will then be fenced and converted into a bus parking lot.
“Those camping under the Wheeler overpass near Midtown have become targets of crime and predators — amid human waste, insects, rodents,” tweeted the mayor. “A @METROHouston bus is at the Wheeler encampment to take the 45 or so residents to shelter as we continue our compassionate work to provide services and roofs to those experiencing homelessness. The Way Home has cut the region's homeless population by 51% in recent years.”