BALTIMORE _ Protesters and some residents of a sprawling downtown homeless encampment pulled tents, blankets and trash into Guilford Avenue on Friday, demonstrating against the city's plan to raze the tent city.
After the pile temporarily blocked traffic, it was moved to one lane. Meanwhile, at least two city outreach workers discreetly help other residents pack their belongings and shuttle them to a dormitory in East Baltimore for a new $1.5 million transitional housing program to get them off the street and away from the dangerous weather and unsanitary conditions.
Around midday, a group about 20 people broke off to march to City Hall.
Bishop Byers, 42, said he and his girlfriend were reluctantly leaving the encampment, where they have lived for months.
"I am going give it a shot," he said late Thursday, explaining that he was staying on site until the last minute possible. "I am going to see what it's like. If it's better for her, that's fine enough for me. I can do anything. I am more worried about her than anything."
On Friday, he carefully dissembled their tent, wiping dirt from the bottom and neatly packing their belongings into plastic crates.
Another resident, Kelvin Morris, 29, refused to go to the program. He stood in the middle of Guilford Avenue as police officers arrived to divert the traffic and make room for the protesters, shouting "I live outside. I'm ready to die today."
Morris, an artist who grew up in Jamaica and came to Baltimore for college, said he has been sleeping on the streets around the Fallsway for years. He said being in the housing program _ run by Volunteers of America Chesapeake in the 4900 block of E. Monument Street, which shares a building with a federal re-entry program that serves ex-offenders _ would make him feel like he was being institutionalized.
"This is all we got. Y'all taking it from us," Morris said, explaining why he was upset that the city was razing the encampment.
Hours after the 9 a.m. deadline passed for people to clear their belongings, city work crews waited with a garbage truck and other vehicles to clear trash and store any tents or belongings that residents asked be saved. Police kept traffic partially blocked along Guilford Avenue at Centre Street to East Pleasant Street.
The Pugh administration announced two weeks ago that officials would clear the encampment over health and safety concerns, citing unclean conditions, dangerous behavior and the risk of dying of hypothermia in the frigid weather. It stretches from Guilford Avenue and Bath Street to the shuttered Hollywood Diner near City Hall.
A group of about 20 people, mostly activists and a few of the homeless, walked down to City Hall to protest.
"No housing! No peace!" they shouted outside.
When no one answered them, they opened the front door and shouted inside."No housing! No peace!"
They tried to bring the protest inside.
"We make noise out here. Just imagine if we were inside the rotunda," activist Amber Canter told the group.
A security guard did not let them in.
About a dozen of the encampment's roughly 20 residents had moved to the Volunteers of America facility in advance of Friday's deadline. The program as room for up to 40 people for as long as a year.
Terry Hickey, the director of the Mayor's Office of Human Services, said city outreach workers have spent weeks encouraging residents to accept temporary shelter.
"Virtually everyone from the encampment has moved," Hickey said. "A lot that is left is abandoned stuff. We've taken every care we can to do this the right way."
Hickey said he expects Friday's clearing effort to unfold over several hours, culminating with Department of Public Works officials removing unclaimed items and cleaning the grounds so the Department of Transportation can put up fencing.
If anyone refuses to move, Hickey said outreach workers will be on site to work with them, including finding alternatives to the dormitory.
At 7 a.m. Friday, Dennis Haley packed up 11 fleece blankets and comforters he had accumulated while living on the street over the last several months.
Haley, 59, was among a group of homeless who began packing their belongs as the sun came in preparation for the city to move them from the land. Some broke down tents, while others packed clothing and tarps into large trash bags or Tupperware boxes.
"Now we just have to wait. I don't know where they are going to start from," he said of the city workers expected to come Friday. Another resident of the camp and a friend of Haley's passed by his mattress, covered with a Rainbow Brite cartoon top sheet, and sang "The End" by The Doors.
Advocates for the homeless have decried the city's action, calling on offiicals to halt their plans or risk sowing distrust and further traumatizing a vulnerable population.
Dozens of organizations and people signed a letter sent Thursday to the Pugh administration to outline their position that destroying encampments is inhumane and counterproductive.
"Until the City is able to provide appropriate permanent affordable housing and services to encampment residents, the undersigned service providers and advocates will not participate in any activities that further displace and disadvantage our homeless neighbors," the letter says. Among the signatories is the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Homeless Persons Representation Project and First Unitarian Church of Baltimore's peace and justice ministry.
Hickey said the city received the letter and asked for a joint task force on street homelessness to begin work to develop an alternative response in such future situations, perhaps involving a public-private partnership. A previous work group was convened by Mayor Catherine Pugh late last year and advised against clearing encampments, saying that a likely result of removing them is another one popping up.
"We're hoping that if people feel philosophically there are other ways, that will be a forum to help us put together a better plan," Hickey said. He has said that the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness takes the position that clearing encampments can be a viable solution in some situations, so long as proper supports are provided.
He said Volunteers of America and city officials are going to lengths to make sure the residents' concerns about the move are addressed through personalized case management. The program they created has shown success in other cities and is designed to cater to people who are resistant to help.
Case managers will work to get the men and women in the Volunteers of America program into permanent housing immediately.
Candace Vanderwater, chief operating officer for Volunteers of America Chesapeake, said the nonprofit has been offering tours to the men and women from the encampment and inviting those who want to live at the dormitory to help draft the rules for the program. The goal, she said, is to have as few rules as possible without jeopardizing safety.
"We're working to get to know them, reduce some of the anxiety on their end and start our needs assessment," Vanderwater said. "We know this population very well. We understand the anxiety and the fear of coming out of an encampment and being afraid to have too many rules and to not be treated with respect."
The nonprofit runs similar programs in Northern Virginia. Its Arlington, Va., program serves about 170 people with an average stay of 86 days before placement in permanent housing. Its Lorton, Va., program services about 200 and averages 43 days before permanent placement. Volunteers of America runs several housing programs in Baltimore, including a re-entry program that is operating out of the same facility as dormitory for the homeless men and women.
As part of the new Baltimore program, Vanderwater said people have personal lockers, a storage space for larger items, space to hang out in common areas, food and transportation to appointments and services. They sleep in pods of 10 _ with separate accommodations for men and women _ with beds spaced out in large rooms, she said. The nonprofit is looking for donations to help offer more resources, including food, snacks, clothing, toiletries and household items.
Staff at the facility will help them sign up for benefits, secure proper identification and access behavioral health services and job training programs.
Haley, who has been homeless since last February, said he is worried about being relocated far away from services and said he hoped to move to a shelter to be close to downtown services.
"How are we going to get back? We don't have no bus fare. Half of us are barely making it," he said.
Haley said he didn't understand why the group has to relocate.
"It's bizarre," he said. "If they keep the area clean, it will be alright," he said, questioning the move.
Haley said he had a friend who died on the street earlier this year. He said they met inside a cold blue shelter, but she was kicked out for drinking so he gave up his bed and followed her to the downtown encampment.
But despite the cold, he said the street, for many, is still preferable.
"People are happy where they at," he said.
