SAN ANTONIO — For the moment, the large expanse of open space beneath Interstate 37 near McCullough Avenue and Hays Street has been swept clean.
Thursday morning, a number of city departments participated in a joint effort to remove a sprawling encampment of people who had taken up residence under the elevated portion of the freeway.
City officials say they issued plenty of warnings before the sweep began and offered placement services to anyone who expressed an interest in help.
Dawn White-Fosdick, the President and CEO of the Christian Assistance Ministry, just west of the location, said she welcomed the intervention even though it causes short-term pain.
"We are in a really difficult position because we are serving people who are experiencing homelessness. These are our friends and clients, that may live under the bridge or around our organization," White-Fosdick said, adding "It often gets out of hand. It becomes a danger to the people we serve. It becomes a health risk. Criminals get in there and start really doing harm to people experiencing homelessness, so we think there's a balance."
White-Fosdick said, "There needs to be sort of regularly occurring cleanups because what we notice is that when they do a cleanup, we're able to get some people off the street. Often that's when a conversation that's really important occurs."
Volunteer North Awad, who came to help people trying to leave the sweep area, said they don't believe enough notice was given, nor enough choices for new housing arrangements.
"It's just messed up, what the city's doing," Awad said, talking about helping a man in his 70s try to make his way away from the camp.
"I say he was pushing a trash can and two 20 pound bags of his stuff around the block, how was he going to do that himself? Where is the support of the city that needs to help these people here?" Awad said.
Maria Turvin, of Yanawana Herbolarios, a non-profit group that provides free health clinics and other critical support to the houseless community, said mass relocation sweeps hurt the people forced to move and the providers who try to help them.
"When abatements happen, people lose their medicines. People lose their wallets with their IDs and their Social Security cards and a lot of our houseless relatives have jobs. They lose their clothing for work. Their shoes for work," Turvin said.
Turvin said the simple things people take for granted are all swept away.
"When you think of everything we need to start our day? They lose. Toothbrushes. Hairbrushes. They lose it all, every time and these simple things are deeply valuable. Everything is precious. Their entire lives get displaced," Turvin said.
Sweeps do not result in people being safer, Turvin said. In fact, she said the opposite is true.
"When they get displaced, they don't get displaced to safe places, right? They get displaced to more dangerous places. This (freeway) may not be ideal but it's flat, there's safety from the elements. It's close to services, so why force people to go into tunnels and to drainage ditches and create a more dangerous situation? People don't just disappear when you sweep them, you know? They just get pushed from one area to another area," Turvin said.
White-Fosdick said balancing the needs of competing groups is a delicate balance.
"There's lots to consider in these issues. Developers, hotels, churches, we have to mindful of everyone's needs," White-Fosdick, adding the community needs to work on a more comprehensive plan. "We think the city health department and police and non-profits like ourselves need to outreach to people who are living in these encampments," White-Fosdick said.
Now that the area has been swept, officials with the Texas Department of Transportation confirm fencing will be installed to keep it clean.
White-Fosdick said as people are on the move, they are hoping churches, shelters and ministries in the area will be helping people transition into safer and more permanent housing.
On Saturday morning, the city provided clarification about the homeless sweep and reads as follows:
Although the City’s solid waste department participated in the abatement on Thursday, due to the volume for collection, TXDOT contractors were the primary crew picking up and requesting the space to be cleared.
TXDOT requested the abatement due to concerns they identified: Excessive debris and litter, fires and risk of damage to bridge elements. Our solid waste team participated due to volume. TXDOT normally clears sites on their property without the city’s support.