ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 City crews cleared another homeless encampment this week \u2014 amid National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.<\/p>\n
Workers and heavy equipment rolled into the camp along the Jordan Creek Greenway early Monday, evicting a small group of residents who remained despite weeks of warnings.<\/p>\n
They joined the growing number of people who have been kicked out of camps in the city in recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they\u2019re doing to us isn\u2019t right; it isn\u2019t fair.”<\/p>\n
Joan Harwood, former camp resident<\/p>\n
Herbert Stewart, a 64-year-old Bethlehem native, said he and his partner, Joan Harwood, have lived outdoors since losing their housing in October. <\/p>\n
They were at the greenway camp with their cats for about two weeks before the clearing started.<\/p>\n
Stewart told LehighValleyNews.com they had \u201cno plan\u201d and felt \u201cvery bad\u201d and \u201cvery cold\u201d as they stood by their belongings and wondered where to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they\u2019re doing to us isn\u2019t right; it isn\u2019t fair,\u201d Harwood said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a place to actually stay, a roof over our head, someplace the cats could go to,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t leave without them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\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
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\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
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\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
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\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
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\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
Homeless people should \u201chave a place to stay without the aggravation of this \u2014 of moving from place to place,\u201d Harwood said.<\/p>\n
She called on Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk to \u201cdo something for the homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and Stewart urged officials to buy up vacant buildings and repurpose them for temporary or long-term housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had the money, I\u2019d do it myself,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n
He said he believes some won\u2019t care for homeless people or understand their struggle unless they experience it themselves.<\/p>\n
Homeless residents \u201cneed to winterize their tents so they don\u2019t die\u201d; instead, they\u2019re \u201cgetting moved around.”<\/p>\n
Christina DiPierro, Commission on Homelessness co-chair<\/p>\n
Christina DiPierro, co-chair of the city\u2019s Commission on Homelessness, was at the camp Monday to help a client with Valley Youth House, where she works as a program coordinator.<\/p>\n
She said homeless residents should be bracing for the cold weather, not looking for a new area to stay.<\/p>\n
Homeless residents \u201cneed to winterize their tents so they don\u2019t die,\u201d DiPierro said. Instead, they\u2019re \u201cgetting moved around,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, an annual event held the week before Thanksgiving, started Sunday.<\/p>\n
Some shelter beds available<\/p>\n
Since August, Tuerk has ordered the closure of three camps along the creek.<\/p>\n
Crews in late September started clearing a camp along Jordan Creek just north of Tilghman Street. Residents there said more than 100 people lived at that camp some days.<\/p>\n
Dozens of people still were living at the camp as city crews arrived to clear it.<\/a><\/p>\n That eviction prompted officials from the city, county and Lehigh Valley Community Foundation to work with the regional United Way to open the Allentown YMCA\u2019s overnight shelter early.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to be able to tap into resources available to not have to go over capacity. If we do, we will make every attempt to secure an alternate bed.\u201d<\/p>\n Tami Unger, Allentown YMCA branch director<\/p>\n It opened Sept. 30<\/a>, about seven weeks ahead of its typical Nov. 15 opening.<\/p>\n