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One of Portland's oldest homeless encampments was broken down. Many wonder where to go next.

Portland tried to offer limited shelter to unhoused people and only a handful accepted. Nonprofits and organizers say city shelters have too many barriers.

PORTLAND, Maine — Shannon Rafferty was at the Fore River Encampment before any city workers Wednesday morning. She handed out energy bars, water, and gummies to people as they were packing up their belongings.

"I am ashamed of every one of the city councilmembers who is allowing this," Rafferty said while she walked down the overpass on Fore River Parkway.

Rafferty is a volunteer with My Father's Hands, a nonprofit homeless outreach organization.

"My mother raised us to pay it back because we got help when we needed it," Rafferty said. "This crisis is just heartbreaking."

As she walked down the bike path, she passed the sounds of sawing, crunching, and shouting, of people begging for a solution to Maine's homelessness crisis.

Knowing the city's deadline to close down the Fore River encampment is looming, 60 to 70 tents were packed up. The ones that were left behind were crushed by city equipment.

Books, clothes and trash were thrown away by city crews.

The Fore River Parkway encampment is one of Portland's oldest. Ed Stewart, a homeless 34-year-old, said he first camped on the bike trail five years ago.

"Nothing bad goes down here. We are like a big family," Stewart said.

Stewart said when he camped at another encampment several days ago, he was stabbed in his leg and hand. It left him unable to use his hand. And he struggled to pack up basic belongings.

"We have no place to go. People need a place to rest their heads at night and feel safe," Stewart said. 

The city said throughout this summer it was working to offer everyone at the Fore River encampment shelter before closing down the encampment. 

Out of 170 beds offered to people at Fore River, only 18 accepted the offer, according to the city.

That number, said Shay Dufour, who is formerly homeless, is a sign that the city's approach was not working enough.

"A lot of people don't go to the shelter because some people are suffering from substance abuse. They are near their drug of choice, and they have a problem with transitioning because they are addicted to the lifestyle too," Dufour said. "A lot of these people that stayed at the shelter have had traumatic experiences."

Dufour said she knows people who stayed at city shelters where belongings were stolen.

City of Portland spokesperson Jessica Grondin said part of the outreach the city was working to do is education that the Homeless Services Center on Riverside Street has improved on safety, as opposed to the shuttered Oxford Street Shelter.

Agencies, including Portland officials, called on the city to postpone Wednesday's clearing.

On Tuesday, City Councilors Victoria Pelletier, April Fournier, and Anna Trevorrow issued a joint statement requesting the city move the Fore River Parkway encampment sweep date, originally set for Sept. 6, to Oct. 6.

"This feels like an unfinished conversation with many unknowns. And moving forward with the Sept. 6 encampment sweep is going to create greater chaos, harm, and cost our city and will again retraumatize our unhoused neighbors who deserve a safer place to live," the statement said.

Also on Tuesday, Preble Street, a nonprofit organization, asked the city to postpone the encampment sweep.

"A lot of great work has happened, and we are looking to continue that work instead of starting all over," Andrew Bove, vice president of social work for Preble Street, said.

Grondin said the deadline to close the encampment is firm.

"We are in a tricky situation of having to balance both sides of the equation," Grondin said.

Grondin said while the city wishes it could have brought more people into the shelter, there are also complaints from residents saying the situation needs to be addressed.

"To mix up the message now would not be good for the work we are doing," Grondin said.

Now Wednesday, more than 70 people were displaced, looking for another place to camp.

Kim Alfonso told NEWS CENTER Maine she wants to find a place not as crowded as Fore River was, but also with enough people to feel safe as a woman.

"It is what it is and just kind of take it a moment at a time today," Alfonso said.

Many residents said they were going to stay at the Marginal Way Park and Ride encampment, which the city stated they hope to close sometime in the coming weeks.

A date has not been set in stone, but the city said it takes a full week to debrief from the Fore River Parkway clearing before starting outreach work again at Marginal Way.

   

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