New Homeless Camp Near Wheeling Creek Could Open Next Week

Emma Delk

WHEELING -- The new exempted site for Wheeling's homeless population located off the maintenance trail along Wheeling Creek should be ready for people to move in by next week, according to the Catholic Charities West Virginia Executive Director Mark Phillips.

The new exempted site will replace the current site on 18th Street across from the Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center. Phillips hopes to have the new location open before the former site's closure deadline of April 3.

"Folks will have to be moved before April 3," noted Phillips on Friday morning. "The Easter holiday has complicated that a little bit because most providers are closed for at least a day, whether it's today or Monday. I'm expecting that most of the moving will have to happen Tuesday and Wednesday of next week."

Volunteers from local charitable organizations have been working at the site for the past week to clear brush and lay out mulch to "level out the site and provide as much space as possible," said Phillips.

The City of Wheeling has also provided resources and labor to prepare the camp.

City crews have performed "a little bit of brush hogging" to fortify the vehicular access for first responders and sanitation workers to the site, according to City Manager Robert Herron.

The city has also provided portable toilets and dumpsters for the camp.

The Wheeling Police Department and the Wheeling Fire Department will also provide services "as needed" for the site once it has opened, according to Herron.

Herron said there is "no plan right now" for city sanitation crews to clean the site.

Local charity groups including Catholic Charities, Street Moms, The Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless and the House of Hagar will perform outreach at the new location once opened.

Catholic Charities and their community partners will assist in moving individuals to the new site once opened. Phillips said individuals have offered to provide large vans and moving trucks to move homeless individuals' belongings to the new site.

Phillips noted that due to the remote location of the site, he "does not think it would be possible" for Catholic Charities to bring food and other resources to residents at the encampment. He noted the camp having no power source and no potable water are two inhibitors to what the organization can provide at the camp.

Phillips added that Catholic Charities will provide as many tents and other camp necessities "as possible" for individuals at the site.

"We'll still be offering showers and restrooms and hot meals at the Neighborhood Center as we have for the past 50 years," said Phillips. "Getting additional resources to that campsite with its remote location is difficult, but there'll probably be times that we take things like the emergency food. I know that other providers will take resources as well."

Phillips noted that it would be difficult for those staying at the encampment to travel back and forth between local organizations and the site. He explained that Catholic Charities does not have the resources to transport individuals from the site to their facilities.

"Hopefully individuals who have more difficulty getting back and forth will be able to find other resources," added Phillips.

Project HOPE Founder and physician Dr. William Mercer, who provides medical treatments at homeless encampments, appreciates the amount of space the 70-yard-long camp provides for homeless individuals so "everyone won't be on top of each other."

"I think it's the best we can do right now," described Mercer. "This was an area that the homeless have picked for themselves before, but there were some issues with whether the site could have been a little closer to other resources."

With preparation work being completed on the site by the next week, what still needs to be ironed out is the rules and regulations that those staying at the site must abide by.

Neither the city nor a local organization officially manages the camp, meaning no entity is solely responsible for deciding the site's rules. City officials and homeless advocates will collaborate to decide what basic guidelines will be implemented at the camp.

Herron explained the city has not yet met with homeless advocates to decide the rules for the camp. The guidelines Herron wants to implement include no littering and that there must always be space at the center of the camp for first responders' vehicles to fit into.

Mercer said homeless advocates in the area are still deciding the "common rules" they want for the camp. The guidelines they are still considering include how trash will be taken care of, whether the site will be low-barrier and if a resident at the camp will be appointed to act as a property manager.

With no private or public body assigned to manage the camp, there is also no funding source for the site's upkeep and management. Phillips explained that charitable organizations are "picking up the slack right now" to ensure the location will be suitable for homeless individuals.

In the future, Phillips would like additional resources including more peer recovery options at the camp. What he believes is most needed is a year-round indoor emergency shelter in the city for individuals.

"This camp is not a solution to homelessness," emphasized Phillips. "We need a year-round, indoor emergency shelter so that the homeless population recognizes that there's a place where they can stay out of the elements, hopefully, stay healthy and start to see pathways to a better future."