On Wednesday, Manchester officials began evicting a downtown encampment that has become home to roughly 50 people outside of the city’s largest shelter in recent months.
The move comes after a judge ruled Tuesday that the eviction could proceed against the objections of the ACLU of New Hampshire and other local advocates.
Two bulldozers and a dozen city workers spent hours the afternoon trying to remove every object in the zone. Some of the people inside reported they were dealing with needles on the floor, but the residents were helping the authorities.
People living in the encampment rushed to gather all their belongings and pack them in the yellow storage bins the city provided. City officials told the residents that they would be able to access city-provided storage space for the next 30 days; still, many said they were worried about what will happen to certain objects that give them a sense of dignity.
Dennis Higgins, one of those evicted from the encampment, needs help figuring out where to leave his bicycles. He said he wants to understand why the city moved him and other residents without other long-term solutions.
“Everybody is packing up; where are we going? I have no idea,” he said.
The city recently opened a 40-bed overnight emergency shelter at the Cashin Senior Center on Manchester’s West Side, which is open from 7 p.m to 6 a.m. Higgins said resources had been offered to those who are being displaced, but many people still weren’t clear if there would be transportation for everybody on the night of the eviction.
The city also recently announced plans to open a women's shelter, and officials are also moving forward with plans to transform an abandoned factory into a 24-hour shelter with 40 beds inside.
Dam Wright, an advocate who has been working with people at the encampment, said the night before the eviction, there was a lot of anxiety about where to go next.
“They were preparing for the inevitable,” he said, “and finally, today is the day people have to start again.”
Wright said the city should be aware that people who are being moved from this encampment will naturally move somewhere else, and “soon there will be a crowd of business owners at city hall with complaints.”. He said more long-term solutions, such as affordable housing, should be a priority — not just emergency shelters.
