PORTLAND, Maine — Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of Portland City Hall Friday demanding the city stop clearing encampments where unhoused people live.
The city removed two major encampments this year; a nearly 100-person encampment on the Bayside Bike Trail in May and another at the Fore River Bike Trail, which was home to around 70 tents.
"Essentially, we don't want our people to die," Jess Falero, with the Church of Safe Injection, said. "Folks have been outside for a really long time, and there is a huge disconnect for what it's like to be outside 24/7."
Falero was one of the organizers of the protest and said it was inspired knowing the city not only cleared Fore River but had plans to close down the Marginal Way Park and Ride encampment sometime in the coming weeks.
"The City of Portland has been talking about people like they're too comfortable outside," Michael Fletcher, an outreach worker, said. "They're staying there and not accessing shelter beds because the barriers are too high."
Signs and music filled the space as people took turns speaking. Unhoused people and organizers spoke, citing their own stories about homelessness and expressing frustration with the city's response to the rising population of people experiencing homelessness.
Jessica Gondin, a spokesperson for Portland, said the city agrees the Encampment Crisis Response Team did not bring as many people as it wanted to into shelter.
The plan of the ECRT, according to the city, is to offer people shelter and resources at encampments before shutting the encampment down.
Last week's clearing of the Fore River Parkway, which was the first site targeted by the ECRT, only resulted in 18 people being brought to shelter before the clearing.
"Of course, we wish we would have been able to bring more folks into shelter, but we need to continue to address those barriers," Grondin said.
Barriers, the city said during a Thursday evening homelessness workshop, included lowering the standards to go to the homeless resource center.
Lowering barriers to access shelter is a key to getting homeless people into shelter, according to a recent proposal by Preble Street to bring more people into shelter over the next several months. You can read more about Preble Street's plan here.
Grondin said much of the plan is accepted by the city, as it includes recommendations that will be in the "after action" report issued by the city's fire department next week.