Take an aerial tour of the completed homeless encampment at Dairy Drive in Madison in early November 2021, just prior to move-in.
Starting Tuesday, the notice allows the city to begin enforcing ordinances that prohibit overnight camping in the park and all portable toilets were to be removed. But the city is looking to avoid citations or enforcement action, officials said.
James DeGray, who lived in the park and tried to organize campers and clean-ups, has accepted shelter at the Dairy Drive encampment but returned to Reindahl to help those transitioning or trying to stay there with their belongings as the city ends camping there.
It’s important, even critical, to protect belongings like tents or supplies that can be shared with other homeless who have not secured shelter or for it to be available for the owner if shelter doesn’t work out or ends, he said.
“They’re moving people so fast. There’s a sense of shock,” said Pearl Foster, an advocate for the homeless spending time at the park in solidarity with them.
Charles Stovall, who has been homeless since April and living at Reindahl since August, accepted a room at a nearby hotel through a nonprofit on Monday. He was grateful for a night out of the elements but frustrated with a lack of help in storing his belongings, which include multiple tents and equipment.
“I’ve got two days to figure out what to do with this stuff he said, adding that assistance with storage and legal problems that helped lead to his eviction would make a huge difference in becoming employed and housed in the future. “I could go forward with my life,” he said.
