The City of Bloomington has released updates on the planned closure of the Browns Woods homeless encampment scheduled for Monday, saying only one person remained at the site as of Wednesday.
According to a city press release, local homelessness service providers have been conducting outreach at the property, owned by the Community Foundation of Monroe County, for nearly a year.
The eviction is set to continue followed by a cleanup. Any personal belongings left behind will be collected and stored for 30 days, unless they are deemed unsafe to keep. The release said individuals will be given multiple opportunities to retrieve essential items.
According to the release, encampment closures are a last resort only used when there are serious health or safety risks. The city said it is not an enforcement action.
The city release acknowledged challenges posed by the winter weather, noting local shelters are near capacity. It said the city is coordinating with the Stride Crisis Center to ensure everyone seeking shelter finds a safe place to sleep.
“These situations are incredibly difficult for everyone involved,” Mayor Kerry Thomson said in the release. “We use encampment closures only as a last step, and always alongside outreach. Our team and our partners will continue working directly with each individual to support a safer, more stable path forward.”
During the Monroe County Commissioners meeting Thursday, community members urged the commissioners to delay a second eviction until spring. That encampment is on property located off South Rogers Street near the Duke Energy substation. Many cited the cold weather and a lack of space and volunteers at local homeless shelters.
“People are freezing outside and people have lost their lives due to the cold,” said Amara Briscoe, a Monroe County resident who was formerly homeless. “It is not right or fair for them to be removed from where they live or from where they stay safe at.”
Just before 5 p.m. Friday, the commissioners sent a news release saying it was delaying Monday's removal by a week. The new date is Dec. 15.
Commissioners’ Administrator Angela Purdie said staff with HealthNet, a non-profit that serves Bloomington’s homeless, and police visited the encampment Monday to give notice of the eviction.
“HealthNet and the SRO's have been going out daily and meeting with these people trying to get them into shelter,” Purdie said. “There is shelter available. We have confirmed that.”
Bloomington resident Shelby Porteroff said it is unrealistic to expect the encampment residents to relocate within a week, requesting the commissioners stop the eviction process.
“Yes, there is trash, but what's also out there is an attempt to make a home,” Porteroff said. “Any of those preconceived notions that you have are not the reality on the ground. They're humans, too. They're not evil.”
Porteroff referenced a wintertime encampment eviction at Seminary Square in 2020, after which a member of the homeless community died on Christmas Eve.
“The folks who are in these encampments have their materials in place and solidified in place for them to survive the winter,” she said. “Right now, we do not have enough volunteers for our emergency shelters to open overnight, and the few shelters that we have that are year-round are completely full.”
