by Rupal Ramesh Shah | March 2024​

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Campsites have been set up by those experiencing homelessness in the USA since Americans lost their homes due to the Great Depression of the 1930s. As the Great Depression deepened with the unemployment rate soaring to 25%, more than fifteen million people lost their homes and jobs. Desperate, with no options those who experienced homelessness began to build camps of makeshift shacks near soup kitchens or rivers, to gain easy access to food and drinking water. The camps were built with various materials, ranging from wooden crates and cardboard boxes to tar paper, scrap metal, and other discarded materials. However, some campsites were a little more than holes in the ground covered with tin or cardboard. The camps were dubbed Hoovervilles, after President Herbert Hoover, the president at the time. The Hoovervilles varied in size from a few hundred residents to thousands of people and were located all over the country. 

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Unfortunately, over the years, campsites have been subject to sweeps by local health departments, businesses, and government officials. On several occasions, residents have been forced to evacuate, with little or no options of long-term or permanent rehabilitation. As a result, those who experience homelessness continue to move and rebuild camps elsewhere as the root cause is not solved and issues of homelessness persist. 

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Those living at campsites are already at higher risk of diseases that may lead to life-threatening complications. According to data from the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, camp sweeps damage the health and well-being of the residents and further compromise their safety and civic trust. Therefore, it is important to provide comprehensive services when remediating people from campsites.

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According to the City of Columbus Homeless Advocacy Liaison Marcus Johnson, the city does not sanction encampments. Instead they facilitate and provide housing options with a large window of time to establish rapport with those living on the streets. 

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To clarify, there is a difference between camp sweeps and remediations. The purpose of camp sweeps is to remove or disband the homeless encampment from a specific location while the purpose of camp remediations is to address the conditions and challenges of homeless encampments while working towards sustainable solutions for the residents and the neighboring communities. According to the City of Columbus, before any remediation efforts are undertaken, they provide resources such as housing outreach services, connections to shelters, and housing assistance programs. 

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Johnson stated that remediation is only discussed and planned after a significant period of time has passed to allow housing outreach experts time to encourage those experiencing homelessness to actively participate in their housing plan. Johnson added, “If the majority of the encampment occupants decline services, are not actively working on their housing plans, create safety and sanitation issues, are a nuisance to the surrounding community or any combination of those, a discussion to conduct a remediation is had by the City of Columbus and stakeholders.” 

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However, even with ample resources, the city faces challenges in this type of work. Johnson stated that the lack of housing, unwillingness to reside in shelters, and mental health and substance use disorders impact the ability to provide long-term support successfully. 

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Yet, there has been some progress at the city level. “In September 2022 the City of Columbus conducted a transitional housing pilot that successfully housed ten out of thirteen residents from a campsite. Unfortunately, the ones who didn’t acquire stable housing had prior records of legal convictions and ongoing mental health challenges,” stated Johnson. 

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In Columbus, OH campsites exist all over the city, including one camp in Heer Park, located in the city’s South Side. According to the founder of Heer to Serve, a community-based organization that serves hot meals and provides hygiene and wound care supplies to those that are experiencing homelessness, campsites are critical for those who live on the streets. Emily Myers started the organization because of her personal experiences as an unsheltered individual. According to Myers, those who lack permanent housing die 17.5 years younger than those who are housed. Furthermore, those who experience mental health illnesses die 25 years younger than those who do not have any mental health illnesses. 

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“The current waitlist to obtain housing is one year. Additionally, those who are able obtain housing face significant barriers before they are housed,” stated Myers. “While the City of Columbus is engaged in camp remediations and spending thousands of dollars on them, they need to shift their focus on finding permanent and stable housing for those who experience homelessness. Without that, those impacted by homelessness will continue to be displaced, to search for new land for camps,” she further added. 

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Myers believes that homelessness is a public health crisis as people who live on the streets not only face stigma and discrimination, but they also struggle with mental health illness due to lack of consistent health care. “Campsites are the only place they have community and therefore, they cannot be easily eliminated. That community is essential for their survival and emotional well-being,” said Myers. 

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According to Myers the long-term solution to homelessness will involve collaborative efforts from all sides, those impacted by homelessness as well as members of the community, including local businesses and government officials. “There needs to be a place for real conversations, where sustainable solutions can be determined collectively,” she added. 

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Unfortunately, we do not have an accurate consensus of the number of people living in encampments in the Greater Columbus area. While that survey work remains to be done, Ben Sears from the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless’ estimates that there are at least one hundred campsites located in and around Franklin County. Each camp consists of about 1 to 3 individuals and a few of the camps are occupied by 15+ people. That calculation adds up to at least three hundred people experiencing homelessness and living in camps. 

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According to Steven Skovensky, Programs and Planning Director at The Community Shelter Board, the January 2023 point-in-time count identified 498 people living outside or in other spaces not meant for habitation. The census data is obtained annually by The Community Shelter Board, a local non-profit organization, in collaboration with the Continuum of Care, a 41-member planning body that has a commitment to end homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County.

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The Community Shelter Board has been leading the community’s response in addressing the lack of housing by collaborating with community groups and the City of Columbus to provide services to prevent and address homelessness. Skovensky stated that their team’s job is to provide support, coordination, and services for people experiencing homelessness. He added, “We connect them to better options. People experiencing homelessness should not be displaced to another area. Instead we want to ensure they get housed.”

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Community Shelter Board funds the street outreach efforts led by Mount Carmel Health System. Part of the funding is for Mount Carmel Health System’s monthly meetings with a collaborative group to discuss outreach efforts, known as the Street to Housing Outreach Collaborative (SHOC). The Street to Housing Outreach Collaborative’s goal is to address the physical and mental health care and social care needs of those that are experiencing homelessness. 

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Just recently, 27 of 36 individuals at the encampment site near Heer Park were moved into non-congregate shelter in the form of a hotel. The street outreach team is working hard to link them to resources with the goal of providing permanent housing. Heer to Serve has been a part of the coordination efforts to ensure everyone is taken care of.

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Roxann Payne, manager of the department of social care at Mount Carmel Health System is part of the team that works closely with people experiencing homelessness. She stated, “We provide various means of support. One of those is a housing outreach program, in which our staff go to homeless encampments to build relationships with the residents. Additionally, they offer direct and ongoing support to those who are seeking housing. Some of those residents are followed for an entire year, after they obtain housing to ensure they have all the support they need to maintain their new homes.”

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Payne mentioned that Mount Carmel Health System has trained peer supporters to work with those impacted by homelessness to address their needs, especially during tough times. Payne added, “We provide support onsite for camps being impacted by remediations, though we are not involved with the actual remediation. We work to connect every impacted community member with shelter, warming centers, and other housing resources, prior to remediations. This is, of course, based upon willingness of each individual, but it is a big part of our services during those times.”

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In describing the challenges during camp remediations, Payne mentioned there is an ongoing lack of affordable housing options. Therefore, the problem of homelessness persists. As stated by Myers, “This is very complex problem and the solution to end homelessness will come from all members of the community understanding one another and their needs.” 

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A report from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) suggests a multi-pronged approach to this problem. One of the key points in that strategy is to identify barriers to obtaining and maintaining permanent housing. It clearly states that action plans should provide clear and concise methods to not only attaining housing, but also ensuring they are equipped to stay there, for the long-term. 

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According to Christina Bournique, Director of Homeless Services at Southeast Healthcare, it is important to ensure there is a pathway for those who live on the streets to obtain long-term housing. She stated, “We are not present during camp remediations, but we provide resources if we know that remediations will take place. Our goal is to create trusting relationships so that those impacted by homelessness trust us to care for them.” To that end, the organization has set up Projects for Assistance in transition from Homelessness (PATH), which includes an outreach team that provides case management support to those who live on the streets. 

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“Our primary goal is to engage unsheltered individuals in accessing mental health services, with an objective to provide access to permanent housing. We link people to treatment for substance use and mental health disorders,” Bournique mentioned. “However, better transitional services should be made available, in which a supportive environment is created for those who are suffering from homelessness,” she added. 

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In Columbus, with the rise in campsites there must be a serious call to action.  Local community organizations, government officials, and healthcare leaders need to engage in conversation and truly listen to each other. Barriers to long-term housing need to be addressed collectively in order to solve the core issues faced by those experiencing homelessness. Only then can we start to develop and implement sustainable solutions to end homelessness. 

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Street Speech is a newspaper hosted in collaboration with the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless.