PORTLAND, Maine — Paul Cann said he's lived at the Bayside Neighborhood homeless encampment for the last few months and added these past weeks are the worst he's seen in terms of trash, injuries, and conditions in the area.
"I don't really know where to go," He said when asked if he had plans for when the encampment closes. "Jesus, anyone can be in this spot, you know?"
The Bayside Encampment, which Preble Street estimates started in January and February, was ordered by Portland City Council to be dispersed at Tuesday night's meeting.
Leaders debated the decision being difficult, as more than 80 tents are set up there, and those that live there have nothing else to fall back on in terms of resources.
The shelters in Portland are full from both city and organizational standpoints. The city also told NEWS CENTER Maine it does not have enough money or staffing to fund more shelter space for the people living at the Bayside Encampment.
"Money comes down to it for all solutions. . . we're trying to work on and then finding the proper facilities to do so," Jessica Grondin, Portland's spokesperson, said. "Portland can't do it alone."
Grondin added there is no official day when the encampment will be cleared, but it should be sometime in the next week. The rest of this week will be spent on outreach, she said.
"We've spent $26-and-a-half million since the start of the fiscal year, and we still don't have enough to fill the need," Grondin said when asked about how much money the city has spent on homeless resources.
Preble Street said the combination of emergency hotel programs ending in South Portland, along with the capacity reached at shelters every day, has made the Bayside situation worse.
Andrew Bove, vice president of social work at Preble Street, said people may be reluctant to go to the new city-run Riverside Homeless Shelter since it is not near downtown amenities.
"I think that is part of the constellation of issues," he said.
The Riverside shelter does have amenities the previous Oxford Street shelter did not, such as medical and mental health resources.
But residents at the Bayside Encampment said the distance to the shelter and the capacity it reaches every evening is not ideal.
"Moving people around doesn't make them disappear," Bove said. "These are Portland residents and the safety and dignity of the people in our minds should be at the forefront."
Preble Street recently opened a downtown shelter called Elena's Way. It is a low-barrier shelter for people who need medical treatment and who are currently suffering from drug addiction.
It has 40 beds, and for its first few months, could only function at half-capacity due to staffing issues.
"There is not a good support system in the state for emergency shelters in the state of Maine," Bove said.
He added people at the encampment are harassed and have heard reports of assault from passersby.
"They shouldn't be trying to sweep us under the rug because there is no damn rug," Paul Cann said. "It's like trying to sweep a dust pile. What's it going to do? It's going to disperse, but it will come right back."