Advocates for the homeless in St. Paul are trying to "Stop the Sweeps."
Local organizers and unhoused residents are speaking out against plans put together by city leaders to dismantle local tent settlements with specific concern about the upcoming August 5 evictions at Pigs Eye Park.
Lilly with Stop the Sweeps Coalition criticized the administration's approach, saying it lacked meaningful community input.
"That plan, so-called, of Mayor Her's would criminalize those who don't accept their barrier-filled, roach-infested, always full housing options, by arresting those who attempt to start new encampments," Lilly explained.
St. Paul city leaders have defended their plans to clear the Pigs Eye Park encampment, arguing that the site is deeply unsafe.
At least 100 people are estimated to be living there, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her's office announced earlier this month in a memo that municipal and county teams will spend the next four weeks on-site to connect displaced people with shelter, housing applications, and critical support services.
Meanwhile, local facilities like Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities are ramping up outreach efforts and considering bringing out extra cots to cover the extra need.
"We are up to 208 emergency beds in our dorm, and that's the place in which we have about 20 to 25 open beds a night. And then we are also just thinking about possibly bring back some overflow for a temporary period possibly in our chapel," says community relations director at UGM Twin Cities Sara Peterka.
She says as meetings between service providers continue, questions remain over whether temporary beds will be enough for those in need ahead of the August 5 deadline.
Peterka adds all of the local shelters in the area are communicating about how to tackle the incoming influx of people.
"We just continue to collaborate with each other and keep that open line of communication going so that we know who's got space, who might not have enough space to fill up, but we work together as much as we can," she explains.
