Homeless Camp in Little Saigon Cleared

The City cleared a homeless camp in Little Saigon. Some area businesses are breathing a sigh of relief. The encampment was on S. Weller Street in Seattle's Little Saigon neighborhood. Businesses in the area said they are now seeing progress. Some have said that the camp has been linked to shootings, several fires and other illegal activity.  The post Homeless Camp in Little Saigon Cleared appeared first on The Seattle Medium.

Homeless Camp in Little Saigon Cleared
Worker clearing homeless camp in Little Saigon neighborhood of Seattle

The City cleared a homeless camp in Little Saigon. Some area businesses are breathing a sigh of relief. The encampment was on S. Weller Street in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood. Businesses in the area said they are now seeing progress. Some have said that the camp has been linked to shootings, several fires and other illegal activity. 

Homeless camps in various areas have been in the news lately. Much of the news has reported on drug use, prostitution, and stolen goods. The homeless encampment there was recently cleared had about 20 tents. It was cleared away two weeks ago on May 18. It had been slated to be removed on May 25 but police said recent crimes connected to the camp were a major factor in moving the removal date up.

After the area was cleared concrete blocks were placed where the tents had been. The blocks were placed there by a business to keep RVs from returning. There are also wooden planters further down the street. Some businesses said it is refreshing that the camp is gone and that it feels like a new place.

The encampment had been the source of complaints for years. Resident businesses said it took a lot to get the help they needed from the city to have the camp removed. They said they went through a lot of collaborative effort.  They put a lot of weekly and daily pressure on the City to be accountable.

According to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, the city’s HOPE team found 25 campers at the site. It was reported that seven residents were moved to a homeless shelter while at least three others moved to a shelter days before the camp was cleared. “It is our goal to connect everyone onsite to shelter and/or services prior to an encampment removal if there are attempts to re-camp in this area those will be addressed by the Unified Care Team,” said the mayor.

The post Homeless Camp in Little Saigon Cleared appeared first on The Seattle Medium.