What Charlotte should do about its homeless ‘tent city’

It’s hard to miss the North End Encampment. The tent city is located on 12th Street, between Tyron and College — right below the tall buildings that give our city its skyline. These two scenes — located so close together — act as a visual dichotomy for Charlotte, a representation of the opportunity and progress that our city holds, and the length we still have to go to ensure that our city is affordable, safe, and accessible to all of our residents.

As so many of us know, homelessness — and in particular, unsheltered homelessness and encampents — have been an issue in Charlotte long before COVID-19. At the onset of the pandemic, homeless service groups and community advocates provided food and resources through Roof Above, the new name for the Urban Ministry Center and the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte. In order to stay closer to those much-needed services, our homeless individuals started to set up camp near the organization.

In my role as a Charlotte City Council member, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about why Mecklenburg County and Charlotte aren’t doing anything to help the individuals who live in the tent city. I also get asked about what can be done and what the solutions should be for both the tent city and the homelessness that perpetuates in Charlotte.

Solutions cost money. And there have been tens of millions of dollars spent — both at the city and county level — both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to help our homeless neighbors. The City of Charlotte has provided over $30 million in funds since the beginning of the pandemic to provide assistance for extended-stay rooms and prepared food; security, utility, and first-month rent deposits for individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness, and awarding funds to shelters and community organizations to expand their facilities to achieve social distancing in homeless shelters.

However, we have an immediate need — creating and executing on a plan to close the North End encampment. We need to do this for several critical reasons: the tent city is not safe, it poses a significant health risk to its residents, and there’s pending legal action. A large portion of the encampment is on private property, and we need a short-term action plan to relocate these residents. Here are my suggestions:

▪ Set an end date for closing the camp — 90 to 120 days from now — with a comprehensive support plan for all residents. According to a presentation given last month by Assistant Mecklenburg County Manager Anthony Trotman, there are shelter beds that are available for all of the camp’s residents, which currently sits at around 100 people.

▪ Work to get encampment residents the COVID-19 vaccine. We know many people at the camp are reluctant to come into a congregate living situation because of their concerns with COVID-19, and working to get them the vaccine would alleviate those concerns.

▪ Continue support for permanent supportive housing, including single room occupancy housing like Moore Place.

▪ Educate the public on how they can best help the encampments’ residents during this transitional period. Give food, clothing, and supply donations to the agencies like Roof Above who are working directly with the encampment residents.

▪ Identify a small group of people — with a lead person — to specifically lead the closure of the encampment.

▪ Adopt a city ordinance related to where tent cities can and can’t be set up in Charlotte.

The longer term solution is to take a joint approach when it comes to the issues of homelessness and housing stability in our city. It’s all of our responsibilities — the City, the County, community and social service organizations, our business community, and our health care entities — to take a holistic approach to the income, mental health, substance abuse, and criminal justice issues that directly contribute to homelessness.

Without a goal, nothing will get done, and we’ll see the encampment continue to increase in size over the winter months. The folks at the encampment need help now. And we need to work together to make sure they get the help they need.