Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Maybe you see them on the way to and from work, or maybe you've heard about them on the news recently, but homeless encampments have been on the rise in the Western New York, and they're raising multiple concerns.
The City of Jamestown recently declared a State of Emergency, detailing risks to health, environmental, sanitation and public safety concerns.
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Even more recent, the Buffalo Police Department had cleared out a few shelters in Fireman's Park between North and South Division Streets on Wednesday, where citizens saw many tents set up at the park.
Sal Durante, Chief Programming Officer of Buffalo City Mission says this doesn't come at a surprise, given what the mission has seen this year in the city and trends in the country.
"There's about a 30%-to-40% increase [in homelessness] over the past year. So yes, we are seeing an increase in homelessness in our area," said Durante in an interview with WBEN.
"I think in an encampment of this size may be new to the City of Buffalo. However, it's very common in some of the larger cities. A few years ago, I was in Seattle and there are tent encampments like this two, three, four times as large in many different places in downtown Seattle. They've, since maybe last year, tried to decrease the number of encampments, but it's still an issue and also in some of the larger cities. It's a new occurrence here in Buffalo, however, it's not surprising."
Urban areas are oftentimes the places you will find the most encampments. However, Durante mentions that many geographical areas are impacted, such as rural and, more increasingly, suburban communities.
"Many rural communities don't have the breadth and scope of services for homeless folks like we have here in Buffalo," noted Durance.
Durante also adds there are a number of resources out there right now, from all levels of government.
"The Erie County Department of Social Services is really helpful in helping people who are homeless in terms of getting them set up with with public assistance, if need be getting them into a hotel on a temporary basis until the homeless shelter spot opens up," he explained. "Unfortunately, many of the homeless shelters ourselves included, are operating at, almost daily, 100% capacity."
Durante says donating clothes and food to the mission is a great help. The homeless shelters still face full capacity challenges, especially when there's increases.
Durante also notes the country is seeing more and more older homeless people.
"Increasing awareness, I think is a great first step. There's also a dearth of affordable housing options for people who are homeless too. We're seeing a lot of older folks who are not able to afford their houses or apartments anymore and are homeless due to that reason," Durante said.