- Corpus Christi staff and police clear out a homeless camp on the north side
- Services were offered to the homeless if they needed treatment
- Those people that have to relocate said they were not offered any shelter
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On W. Broadway Street, under the new Harbor Bridge on the north side of Corpus Christi, more than a dozen and as many as 20 people were living with the brush. It served as a make-shift shelter for them. Some have been living there for months. Others said they have lived there on and off for years.
Scattered throughout the brush are tents, clothing, make-shift beds, etc...
“Oh look we got CCPD here,” Marilena Garza, said.
Garza was at this location on Thursday to help her friends who were being forced out of their living arrangement.
“People are very traumatized just hearing the trash truck coming and understanding what that means. Some of these people have been swept 10, 12 times,” Garza said.
On Thursday staff from the City of Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Police and more arrived at this spot to clear out the trash and debris and assist in the relocation of the people living there.
They were given a one day notice , which they said is more than the usual notice they get.
Garza volunteered her time to help people without homes pick up their belongings and move them before thrown away. Garza said she’s been without a home in the past and understands how they're feeling. She also knows many of these people through her non-profit The Free Store. It's a place that offers immediate needs to those in poverty.
Garza helped by packing up some of their belongings in her truck and she assisted some of them in applying for a storage units if they have the money. She drove their belongings to a storage unit.
"I'm seeing the things they're trying to not have thrown away. They're things like photos. Photos of their family, their loved ones. Important documents, medication, that is some of the stuff that's going in this trash truck today," Garza said.
The city staff allowed the homeless people to gather their things on their own.
“The plan was to make sure that everybody knew this site was not fit for human habitation, to remove the debris and the human waste from the site, to make sure that everybody was able to conduct their operation safely and to try and connect everybody to services,” Jennifer Buxton said Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Corpus Christi
Buxton said the reason for this "sweep" is because they’ve received complaints about homeless people living there. She also said they have safety concerns like crime, lack of sanitation services and the proximity to the construction of the new Harbor Bridge.
Not to mention W. Broadway Street is currently closed because the of the contractor building the Harbor Bridge, Flatiron-Dragados, doesn't want traffic on that street. It runs under the construction of the south approach of the bridge.
“There are fire pits, we’re concerned about wildfires," Buxton said. "There have been fires out here in the past due to encampments and we don’t want any sort of loss of life or damage to property due to fires. In addition to that this is a popular site for drug use.”
After speaking with a few of the homeless people, they said drug use hasn't been a problem, there has been some crime and there's a lot of garbage because everything they own has to be disposable.
Garza said these homeless people are confused because they were directed to live in that area.
“A lot of these people are here because the Corpus Christi Police Department told them to come out here. They didn’t want to come out here initially because they’ve been swept before from this location, but where else are they supposed to go?" Garza said.
Service providers were on scene during the "sweep" interacting with some of the people to connect them to what they need. Buxton said there were providers for substance abuse treatment, sober living and mental health services.
However, Garza believes this "sweep" violates homeless people's constitutional rights.
A Federal Circuit Court ruling stated because of the Eighth Amendment, a city could not punish homeless people for sleeping on public lands when there are no shelter beds available.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to decide on a similar case later this year.
When a few of the homeless people were asked if they had been offered a place to stay by any of the service providers, they answered no.
“Most of them just said they’re going to wander around," Garza said. They’re going to wander around and they’re going to, guess they’re going to sleep in a stoop.”
Buxton said the city does have money for homeless services. They received a grant for about $236,000. She said the city general fund also has money in the budget for outreach and hosting warming centers during freezing weather events.
Buxton said it's possible the city could use a property it owns or obtain one and renovate for use by homeless people. Howver, this is n project like that on the table right now.
Garza believes something lke that is the easy fix to all of this.
“Sanction somewhere where we can have regular city services like trash pick up, sanitation. If we had something like that we wouldn’t be out here spending tax dollars cleaning up the same mess,” Garza said.
Events like these happen regularly. Garza said this "sweep" has been more peaceful than the previous "sweeps" in recent memory. She recalls, possessions being forcefully thrown away by police, violence and arrests. She said it was different this time because she and others were around helping people without housing.
"These are humans out here that need our help and it's a reflection on us if we allow this kind of "sweeping" and ungliness to occur That's not the Corpus Christi I know," Garza said.
Garza added that some of the people without homes living off W. Broadway Street have jobs working in a kitchen or fast food establishment. They just don't make enough to live inside somewhere.
