Homeless Encampments Get Two More Weeks Before Cleanouts
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Heather Corn received a frantic call from her boyfriend Wednesday morning, telling her to come immediately back to the homeless encampment the two were living in near Tunnel Green. A bulldozer was preparing to plow it over.
That ultimately didn't happen Wednesday. Corn and her boyfriend stood their ground and homeless advocacy groups from around Wheeling persuaded city officials to hold off. The action pushed the city to hold off on cleaning out all the illegal camps in the city for two more weeks.
Corn and those advocacy groups say this is one of the issues that will arise now that the city has enacted its ban on camping on public property.
Corn said she has been at the camp since March. Originally from Missouri, the 45-year-old moved to Moundsville to be closer to her youngest son, who lives in Pennsylvania. She said she had been in an abusive relationship while living in Moundsville and escaped that.
"And my ex took everything," Corn said. "I lost my apartment. I lost my job over circumstances."
Since March, she has lived in a tent off of the Wheeling Heritage Trail along Wheeling Creek. She and her boyfriend are the only ones who live in the one-tent camp. During the day, she panhandles along National Road. She was panhandling when her boyfriend called, telling her to return to the camp. When she arrived, she talked to the police officers there, who said they had until 1:30 p.m. to move their belongings.
"And I'm thinking, honey, what are we going to do?" she said. "There's no way we can get all of our camp stuff down, all of our clothes, all of our belongings. There's just no way."
The ban on camping on city-owned property had gone into effect Jan. 1 after Wheeling City Council passed it by a 5-2 vote on Nov. 7. The ordinance allows for a managed camp somewhere in city limits, but that camp has yet to be built.
Dr. William Mercer - founder of Project HOPE, a homeless outreach organization made up of medical, social work, pastoral care and other healthcare workers - spoke before council against the ban Tuesday, saying there needed to be alternative housing or somewhere homeless people could stay 24 hours a day before the ban should be enacted.
On Wednesday, he said that Corn's camp isn't one that should be targeted for teardown.
"I've known Heather for a while," Mercer said. "She has some medical problems. She's been through abuse and lost everything. It's just hard luck.
"I think it would have been a travesty this morning," he said.
Mercer is also on the board of directors for the Life Hub, which operates the Winter Homeless Shelter in the former First English Lutheran Church in downtown Wheeling. While that shelter is an option, both Mercer and Corn acknowledge its limitations. People can only stay there from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and must take their belongings with them in the morning. And in housing about 50 people per night, space is limited.
Both Corn and Mercer said that, even if she stayed in the shelter, many of her belongings would have to be left behind.
By Wednesday afternoon, homeless advocates were able to talk to city officials to get a reprieve. Mark Phillips, president and CEO of Catholic Charities West Virginia, came to the campsite with a copy of the 2020 ruling from U.S. District Court Judge John Preston Bailey. In that ruling, Bailey said, when homeless camps are to be cleared out, the city must post notices of that upcoming cleanout where the homeless living there can see them, those notices must be posted two weeks in advance and the city must also give homeless advocacy groups two weeks advance written notice that the cleanup was happening.
Phillips said he also talked to Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, who said the city would postpone the cleaning of the camps.
When reached Wednesday, Herron said the city had made several moves to notify people. On Dec. 19, signs were posted at entryways into the city as well as in general areas where homeless camping was known to take place. He also said that Wheeling Homeless Liaison Melissa Adams had been in contact with homeless individuals and homeless advocacy groups during that time.
Herron said that the camps will get another 14 days from Wednesday to clear out.
"Out of an abundance of caution and compassion, we're posting signs at each existing campsite, telling people they have 14 days from Wednesday to gather their personal belongings," he said. "After those 14 days, if there are people still at the camps, they'll have another two hours to get their things together and then we'll clear the camps."
Herron said that the ordinance's enactment on Jan. 1 had been known for some time.
"The ordinance is in effect," he said. "Everybody knows that. At some point, something's got to give. We'll work with people, but the ordinance is in effect."
Corn said she has been working since before Christmas to obtain housing. She has contacted her mother back in Missouri - returning there isn't an option Corn said because there's "too much drama" - to get her birth certificate, so she can get the documentation necessary for housing.
Corn said that, even with the extra two weeks, moving on will be difficult. Transporting their belongings, and finding a place to store them, won't be easy. Plus, moving farther from Wheeling, she said, will put them farther away from resources that can help her get back on her feet.
It's a big decision she said she'll have to make soon.
"I'll probably try to wait it out," she said "or, if it comes down to it, just finish packing up and try to find somewhere else to move to."