ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Half a dozen people have lived in tents along the Little Lehigh Creek for the past two years.<\/p>\n
They met at the Allentown YMCA\u2019s warming shelter before making the move behind a retaining wall near Fountain Park, where their tents line a small path that separates them from the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere do I go in seven days?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony Ocurto, camp resident<\/p>\n
One of those people, Jack, 23, stood on a concrete slab-turned-patio late Monday morning, cooking a pack of cheeseburgers on a grill he salvaged from the Recycling Drop-Off Center as he spoke to LehighValleyNews.com.<\/p>\n
Allentown police showed up last week and told him and five other residents they would soon be forced out, Jack said.<\/p>\n
City officials posted notices Friday that ordered them to leave by April 20. That gave them 10 days to get out.<\/p>\n
They now have less than a week to find somewhere else to lay their heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere do I go in seven days?\u201d camp resident Anthony Ocurto said Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
‘Show a little compassion’<\/p>\n
Jack, Ocurto and their campmates say they’re still trying to figure out their next move, but they\u2019re likely to keep sticking together.<\/p>\n
The camp is \u201csafe\u201d and \u201cconvenient\u201d for its residents, with downtown Allentown and Ripple Community Inc.\u2019s drop-in center a short walk away, according Ocurto.<\/p>\n
Its residents likely will look for a similar piece of land on which to live until they\u2019re evicted again, rather than bouncing between shelters and other facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could be dead and buried by the time they call.”<\/p>\n
Camp resident Anthony Ocurto on waiting for an apartment to become available<\/p>\n
Ocurto said he\u2019s stayed at the Y\u2019s shelter, the Lehigh Conference of Churches\u2019 Daybreak center and the Allentown Rescue Mission, but prefers living outdoors where there\u2019s more \u201cfreedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
He credited those facilities for providing people with services, but they\u2019re \u201ca place to go, not a place [to stay],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Allentown YMCA\u2019s winter shelter has offered beds to up to 80 people a night since the end of September. <\/p>\n
But it\u2019s scheduled to shut down Wednesday, leaving those people to find somewhere else to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least give us time. \u2026 Show a little compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony Ocurto, camp resident<\/p>\n
Ocurto said he’s on a waitlist for an efficiency apartment in Bethlehem, but he\u2019s not optimistic that unit is in his future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could be dead and buried by the time they call,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n 1 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Allentown Homeless Camp Clearing\n <\/p>\n
One person living at the Jordan Creek Greenway camp lined up her belongings in shopping carts as crews worked to clear the encampment Monday, Nov. 17. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 2 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Eviction of the Allentown homeless encampment\n <\/p>\n
Allentown police officers pull homeless residents’ belongings off the Jordan Creek Greenway as crews work to clear an encampment Monday, Nov. 17.<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 3 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Allentown Homeless Camp Clearing\n <\/p>\n
An Allentown police officer helps a resident with her dogs as crews work to clear the Jordan Creek Greenway encampment Monday, Nov. 17. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 4 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Allentown Homeless Camp Clearing\n <\/p>\n
City crews made piles of trash and debris to be thrown into dumpsters as they cleared the Jordan Creek Greenway encampment Monday, Nov. 17. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 5 of 5
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Allentown Homeless Camp Clearing\n <\/p>\n
Joan Harwood (left) and Herbert Stewart pose for a photo with their two cats as crews work to clear the Jordan Creek Greenway encampment Monday, Nov. 17. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
When asked Monday if he needed anything, the 66-year-old pleaded for a reprieve from city officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot really, just time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least give us time. \u2026 Show a little compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Remove all items’<\/p>\n
The notices posted last week by city officials order residents of the small camp to vacate by 8 a.m. April 20 \u201cand refrain from trespassing on this private property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease remove all personal items,\u201d the notice reads. \u201cItems left behind on April 20, 2026, will be considered abandoned and subject to disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The notices state the area \u201cis highly dangerous due to flood risk\u201d and threaten residents with arrest for \u201cdefiant trespass\u201d after the eviction date.<\/p>\n
\n 1 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
Crews clear tents and debris from an area along the Jordan Creek that became a homeless encampment after Mayor Matt Tuerk’s eviction order took effect Monday, Sept. 29. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 2 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
Allentown officials posted formal no-trespassing signs on the morning of Thursday, Aug. 7, at the entrance to a homeless encampment along Jordan Creek. Residents must vacate the area by Aug. 25, according to the city.<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 3 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
A portion of the homeless encampment along the Jordan Creek in Allentown remained untouched Tuesday, Sept. 30, a day after city crews evicted residents and started to clear the area.<\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 4 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
Sonny, a resident of the encampment along the Jordan Creek in Allentown, shows off his tidy tent Wednesday, Aug. 27. He’s confident he can secure a job and room before the camp is shut down at the end of September. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 5 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
Allentown employees work Monday, Sept. 29, to clear a homeless encampment near Jordan Creek. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
\n 6 of 6
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a02025 Allentown encampment clearing\n <\/p>\n
Allentown officials placed a trespassing notice Thursday, Aug. 7, at the entrance to the tent of an elderly woman who recently died there, according to residents. A rosary hangs from her tent. <\/p>\n
Jason Addy<\/p>\n
The small path near Fountain Park is the only place Jack has lived outdoors, he said. <\/p>\n
He said he plans to leave before authorities arrive next week, though he\u2019s hopeful the camp\u2019s clearout will be delayed \u2014 as happened last year at camps along the Jordan Creek.<\/p>\n
He said Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk is using the area’s flood risk \u2014 as deemed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency \u2014 as “a nice excuse.” <\/p>\n
“It’s a risk; now you’ve got to act on the risk,” Jack said. <\/p>\n
He may be among those who speak out Wednesday night at Allentown City Council\u2019s meeting, where Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach plans to introduce a resolution seeking emergency actions from Tuerk and Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.<\/p>\n
Gerlach is urging them to immediately allocate funding to pay to transition people from the shelter to hotels \u201cto reduce service disruption and provide a short-term housing option for those who would otherwise return to rough sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Gerlach wants both administrations to identify a property where people can \u201creside legally without fear of being swept or ticketed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerlach also has introduced legislation to establish standard operating procedures and timelines for evictions of homeless camps in Allentown. <\/p>\n
Council is scheduled to consider that bill April 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Half a dozen people have lived in tents along the Little Lehigh Creek for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,74425,2748,121,2458,282,120,45546,2455],"class_list":{"0":"post-165144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-camp-clearing","10":"tag-allentown-city-council","11":"tag-allentown-headlines","12":"tag-allentown-homeless","13":"tag-allentown-housing","14":"tag-allentown-news","15":"tag-allentown-shelter","16":"tag-allentown-ymca"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}