Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito wants to further increase the frequency of homeless encampment sweeps.
A City Waste Management worker throws away a giant teddy bear left behind by a homeless couple in the encampment they called home for roughly two months in a wooded area off of Thousand Oaks Drive in North San Antonio early Tuesday morning.As white vans and trucks rumbled through a wooded area between a busy highway and apartment complexes on the North Side of San Antonio, at least three deer curiously paused to observe before they bounded away.
“While a lot of people do have compassion toward our unsheltered population, I do feel that that compassion is eroding, and it scares me,” she said. “I’m so nervous of potential violence towards our unsheltered residents.” The call from Joe Van Kuiken, special project manager with the city’s Department of Human Services, went unanswered.
“We haven’t really noticed an increase in folks accepting services,” during those pre-sweep assessments, Van Kuiken said. It’s “a little tough” to offer someone services and then say, “Hey, by the way, you’re getting kicked out in a couple days.” “We have a responsibility to go in there” if there’s evidence of fires, biohazards such as syringes or human waste, increased criminal activity or a risk of flooding, he said.
“The last time we abated this site was about a month and a half ago,” Van Kuiken said, and at least one resident had come back to live here again since. “We can abate, abate, abate but what’s really going to make the difference is getting these folks connected in some way shape or form.”
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