Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park

Seminary Park

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During a Thursday night meeting of Bloomington city council’s four-member public safety committee, to hear public comment about the houseless encampment in Seminary Park, Monroe County sheriff’s deputies were patrolling county land further south off Rogers Street.

At Seminary Park, after the committee meeting ended around 9 p.m., word had already spread about two arrests made on the county’s property, which includes 87 acres that front Rogers Street north of Cherokee Drive.

A couple hours later, Seminary Park would see its own, second enforcement action of the day.

[Updated at 12:22 p.m. on Jan. 15. The city of Bloomington issued a statement on the topic. “The City will continue actively collaborating with the entire community and region, including other governmental entities (Monroe County government and township trustees) service providers, those with lived experience, faith communities, and philanthropic agencies, to identify short- and long-term alternatives for our residents experiencing homelessness.”]

The statement includes information about where the people’s belongings had been taken: “Switchyard Park maintenance building at 1601 South Rogers Street where they may be retrieved today from 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. and Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. starting next week.” The statement also says, “Anyone seeking information about available services including emergency shelter may call 211.”

Monroe County land

This aerial image of the county-owned property off Rogers is from the Monroe County online GIS system.

Continue reading “Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park” →

Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now

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Around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Bloomington police department (BPD) officers told the houseless people living in the encampment near Seminary Park, south of downtown Bloomington, that they could not occupy the public right-of-way.

Helped by a couple dozen grassroots volunteers and nonprofit caseworkers from Wheeler Mission and Centerstone, several campers moved down the hill into the park itself.

The right-of-way is an area that can be enforced around the clock. The park closes at 11 p.m. That means the move several yards down the hill might have bought the campers 8–9 hours of extra time.

Bloomington’s director of public engagement, Mary Catherine Carmichael responded to a Square Beacon question about the park clearance by saying the city wanted the campers to “finish the transition to safer shelter options.” Continue reading “Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now” →

Seminary Park encampment not yet cleared, chance comes up for 50 more shelter beds

Banner at Seminary Park looking south at 2nd Street and College Avenue on Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Looking east on 2nd Street at Seminary Park on Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Banner hung on the sculpture at 2nd Street and Walnut Street Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Looking northeast along 2nd Street next to Seminary Park. Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Looking east from College Avenue into Seminary Park. Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Looking north along College Avenue next to Seminary Park. Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon) east along 2nd Street next to Seminary Park. Jan. 11, 2021 (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

Reduced in number but remaining in place on Monday night, was Bloomington’s Seminary Park encampment of people who are experiencing homelessness.

The enforcement action, which Bloomington’s city administration had warned would come “on or about Jan. 11” looks like it might be taken about Jan. 11, not exactly on the date.

As of around 1 a.m. no action had been taken by the Bloomington police department (BPD) to remove anyone from the park.

The apparent lack of enforcement action at Seminary Park came after the late afternoon news of possibly 50 additional shelter beds that might become available.

Beacon, Inc. executive director Forrest Gilmore said on Facebook that he’d walked the city’s fire chief, Jason Moore, through a warehouse space that Gilmore described as looking like a viable low barrier winter shelter. Continue reading “Seminary Park encampment not yet cleared, chance comes up for 50 more shelter beds” →

Seminary Park encampment clearance still on course for “on or about” Jan. 11

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Jan. 11 is still the date when Bloomington is planning to clear an encampment from the area around Seminary Park at 2nd Street and College Avenue, city officials say.

Estimates of the number of people who are staying there, reporting that they have no other place to go, vary from a dozen and a half up to more than 50, with additional numbers socializing there during the day.

Since the Dec. 9 clearance of the park by the city, the strip of public right-of-way along the road, and probably a little more, has been re-established as a place where people are sleeping, socializing and storing their warming accoutrements.

Early the week of Jan. 4, city staff planted signs on stakes in the area, giving notice of the clearance date. It is described on the signs as “on or about” Jan. 11. Some of the signs were immediately pushed over by park campers.

The signs include the text: “It is our hope that everyone currently in the Seminary Park area will find safe shelter/housing alternatives by January 11 by taking advantage of the opportunities available through the agencies that serve those experiencing homelessness.”

The suggested contact points listed out on the signs include: Beacon/Shalom Center, Friend’s Place, Wheeler Mission, New Hope Family Shelter, Amethyst House, Perry Township trustee’s office, and Middle Way House.

It was before Christmas when the city settled on the Jan. 11 date.

The more recent signage can be analyzed as a response to the criticism that the city gave no clear indication that enforcement action was imminent before its Dec. 9 park clearance. It came just after the board of park commissioners had declined the administration’s request to extend a nighttime prohibition of camping to daytime hours. Continue reading “Seminary Park encampment clearance still on course for “on or about” Jan. 11” →

Press Release: Bloomington investigating death of Seminary Park camper

In a press release issued late Thursday afternoon, Bloomington’s police department announced that it is investigating the death of a 51-year-old man who was staying at the Seminary Park encampment.

Seminary Park looking south along College Avenue on Dec. 22, 2020.

According to the news release, the officers responded to a call around 11:40 a.m., which was made by a passerby, who said several people at the park had asked them to call 911.

Officers and EMS staff attempted to resuscitate the man but were not successful, according to the release. The release says that others at the park had spoken to the man earlier in the morning and he seemed fine.

According to the news release, several people had tried the day before to get the man services and had offered him overnight accommodations but the man had refused and slept in the park.

BPD had checked on the man once during the evening hours of Dec. 23 and twice on the morning of Dec. 24th, but the man was sleeping and refused any assistance, according to the news release.

The news release says there were no signs of foul play or injuries to the man.

Continue reading “Press Release: Bloomington investigating death of Seminary Park camper” →

Bloomington looks to nonprofits to help place Seminary Park area campers elsewhere by Jan. 11

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Seminary Park looking south along College Avenue on Dec. 22, 2020.

Just south of the historical marker placed at Seminary Park, near College Avenue, a campsite persists this week.

That’s after people and their belongings were removed from the park two weeks ago by a combination of Bloomington police officers, the department’s social worker, and other nonprofit street outreach staff who work with those experiencing homelessness.

The Wednesday night removal two weeks ago was based on a violation of park rules, which prohibit overnight camping.

The dozen tents now pitched near the park look like they’re at least partly in the public right-of-way, based on the parcel boundaries from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Camping in the public right-of-way is also not something the city has to allow.

On Jan. 11, the city won’t be allowing it any longer, according to Bloomington’s director of public engagement, Mary Catherine Carmichael.

Carmichael told The Square Beacon, “We’ve asked funders and providers to transition folks overnighting in the Seminary Park area to alternative shelter/housing or camping by Jan. 11.” She added that the city of Bloomington will continue its efforts to point park area campers to other resources.

Carmichael added that an initial deadline of Jan. 8 had been set, but after more discussion, was shifted to three days later.

The roughly three weeks that remain before the next potential removal action by the city of Bloomington will give the city and local organizations some time to sort out possible alternatives.

[Updated Dec. 24, 2020 at 5:24 p.m. Bloomington’s police department issued a press release late Thursday afternoon announcing the death of one of the Seminary Park campers. The news release states: “There were no signs of foul play or injuries to the man.”] Continue reading “Bloomington looks to nonprofits to help place Seminary Park area campers elsewhere by Jan. 11” →

Monroe Dems: “Removing people without homes and their belongings from the encampment in the park is not an acceptable answer.”

Responding to a city of Bloomington action on Wednesday night, to remove people and their belongings from Seminary Park, the Monroe County Democratic Party issued a statement on Sunday critical of the move.

The MCDP statement asks that portable restrooms and handwashing stations be placed at the park as “the bare minimum.”

The statement also calls on elected representatives in city and county government to “work together in conjunction with local social service organizations, activists, and those that are experiencing homelessness to build a coalition and work together on a long-term solution.”

The MCDP statement advocates “allocating funds for long-term housing for those unhoused…”

That echoes a sentiment that has begun to get more frequent mention in local discussions, which is summarized in the slogan, “housing first.” That contrasts with the idea of putting “shelter first.”

The statement also asks that people make contributions to local organizations like: Beacon, Inc., Middle Way House, The Bloomington Volunteer Network, and Community Kitchen of Monroe County.

At a rally on Friday night at the county courthouse, some speakers also asked that people support a grassroots effort, Hotels for Homeless, as an organization that had made arrangements for some who were staying in Seminary Park.

The city worked with some of the local nonprofits on Wednesday night to point park resident to other resources. Three of the park residents agreed to go to the Stride Center and a fourth to Wheeler Mission’s shelter, according to city officials. Continue reading “Monroe Dems: “Removing people without homes and their belongings from the encampment in the park is not an acceptable answer.”” →

Bloomington’s Seminary Park action spurs “Hands off Homeless” rally, call for funding of grassroots efforts

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On Friday evening, about 200 people gathered on the southeast corner of the Monroe County courthouse square to respond to the city of Bloomington’s action on Wednesday night, to remove a group of a dozen and half tents and people from Seminary Park.

One demand that was read aloud by Marc Teller, who’s with the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, is to set up a place for the unhoused to camp that is more centrally located with better access to services.

Another demand read aloud by Teller is for the government money that was allocated to Wheeler Mission—to re-open the women’s shelter, which had closed over the summer—to be transferred to Hotels for Homeless. Teller reported that on Wednesday night, 17 Seminary Park campers had been taken in by Hotels for Homeless.

Advocate for the homeless Janna Arthur, who was a write-in candidate for Monroe County council this year, said, “No one was left behind—because of Hotels of Homeless.”

The grassroots organization, founded over the summer, has become eligible for city of Bloomington social services funding (Jack Hopkins) through fiscal sponsorship by New Leaf-New Life.

At Friday’s rally, local activist Vauhxx Booker used his time addressing the crowd to encourage people to donate directly to the group through its PayPal link. Continue reading “Bloomington’s Seminary Park action spurs “Hands off Homeless” rally, call for funding of grassroots efforts” →

Removal of people, personal property from Bloomington’s Seminary Park prompts question: What, if anything, is an encampment?

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When it was founded in 1825, the school that stood on what’s now a park, at 2nd and Walnut streets in Bloomington, taught just two subjects, both heavy with vocabulary study—Greek and Latin.

What’s the right word to describe Seminary Park over the last few weeks?

It was at least a community of people.

They spent the day socializing around tents and stacks of belongings draped in tarps. For most of them, that meant garden-variety small talk, about the weather, gossip, or other mild pursuits. For a few, it meant a transaction for illicit substances. For a couple, it included brawling on the ground, getting in as many punches as they could, before getting separated by a recognized peacemaker in the group.

Several complaints are logged in the city’s uReport system about camping in Seminary and Switchyard parks.

What had become increasingly visible over the last few weeks is no longer there.

On Wednesday night, Seminary Park was the site of action taken in a coordinated effort between Bloomington police department’s downtown resource officers, its social worker, and staff from two area nonprofits, Centerstone and Wheeler Mission. Continue reading “Removal of people, personal property from Bloomington’s Seminary Park prompts question: What, if anything, is an encampment?” →

Bloomington parks board votes 1–3 on policy change: Daytime camping still allowed

A member of Bloomington’s Seminary Park community on Dec. 8, 2020, who preferred not to be identified by name. (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

The view to the southwest of Seminary Park in Bloomington, on Dec. 8, 2020, from the corner of Walnut and 2nd streets. (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

A proposed policy change that would have prohibited camping or otherwise inhabiting Bloomington’s parks at any time, not just overnight, got just one vote of support at Tuesday’s meeting of the board of park commissioners.

Dissenting on the vote was Les Coyne, who was congratulated at the start of the meeting on concluding his 44 years of service as a park commissioner.

The other three commissioners voted against the change to policy, despite a press release issued by the mayor’s office a couple of hours before the meeting started, in support of the policy change.

The press release said, “The recommendation to amend the special use permit policy is being made in response to an increasing presence of tents and other makeshift structures in several city park properties overnight.” Continue reading “Bloomington parks board votes 1–3 on policy change: Daytime camping still allowed” →