ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A bulldozer rolled through a homeless encampment along Jordan Creek on Monday morning as the mayor’s eviction took effect.
Crews showed up before 8 a.m. and got to work when the clock hit the hour mark, according to some residents still sitting nearby several hours later.
“We’re going to be here a long time."Allentown employee clearing encampment Monday
“[I’m] stressed,” one resident, Dana, said as he and others listened to the constant beeping of heavy machinery clearing the camp a few hundreds yards away on the other side of a line of trees.
A city employee working at the site around 11 a.m. said the cleanup effort was about a quarter complete.
“We’re going to be here a long time,” he said as other workers built piles of trash and tree limbs near a dumpster where tents once stood.
Shelter to open Monday night
Mayor Matt Tuerk ordered city crews to clean the camp Monday after calling for it to be shut down last month, citing safety and flooding concerns.
The eviction initially was scheduled for Aug. 25, the same day city lawyers met in court with attorneys for developer Nat Hyman.
Hyman sued Allentown this spring, alleging the encampment on city property was hurting the value of his nearby properties.
Residents last month said more than 100 people lived at the camp some days. Several estimated about 30 people still were living at the camp as city crews and police arrived to clear it.
“I can’t do another winter outdoors."Dana, who lived at the encampment until it was cleared Monday
Two of the four residents who spoke to LehighValleyNews.com on Monday morning said they would try to take advantage of the early opening of the Allentown YMCA’s overnight shelter.
Allentown, Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation contributed about $75,000 to get the shelter up and running ahead of its typical mid-November opening.
It has 80 beds to serve those who need a place to stay.
Dana hopes he’s among those who hope to get into the shelter Monday night. He said he tried to find another place to camp but couldn’t.
“We’re ghosts. People see through us; they don’t see us.”Torry, who lived at the encampment until it was cleared Monday
He said he feels “saved” that the shelter’s early opening will “rescue” him from another hard winter as he awaits treatment for a heart condition.
“I can’t do another winter outdoors,” Dana said.
'Ghosts'
Another encampment resident, Torry, said she lost her apartment in June and moved to the camp after Tuerk’s eviction order.
She said it was her only option despite its impending shutdown.
“There’s nowhere else to go,” she said.
“We’re ghosts,” Torry said. “People see through us; they don’t see us.”
She said she has no plans to stay at the Y’s shelter and called its early opening a “bulls— solution” from city officials.
“We’re like a family."Torry, who lived at the encampment until it was cleared Monday
“It’s not a solution at all,” she said, noting those who stay there overnight must be out by 7 a.m. the next day. And many may struggle to find storage for their items or be forced to leave them behind, she said.
She and others said they instead will continue searching for a new place to pop up their tents — likely outside city limits.
“Some of us are going to stick together,” she said.
She said it’s especially important for women to have companions when living outside.
The Jordan Creek encampment offered its residents a chance to form a community, she said; some feel their bonds are even deeper after being evicted.
“We’re like a family,” Torry said.
