![]() Of the people who remained at Grace Park, Lash said "they've gone back and forth between being houseless, transitioning over to the Haven of Rest, and going back and forth between the various encampments in the area." He did not have an exact figure and CSS did not respond to messages seeking details. He said there had been around 30 or 40 people living in the area around Grace Park, and added many of them had accepted housing vouchers from CSS outreach specialists. With an estimated 500-plus homeless people in the county, the majority of them in Akron, Lash said the city allocates almost $2 million annually for affordable housing, homelessness prevention and emergency shelters. More: Pop-up emergency homeless shelter in Akron closes, then floods The funding for that shelter was provided through an emergency shelter grant secured by the city of Akron through the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act. ![]() (CSS), opened an emergency shelter to house people overnight who were unable or unwilling to go to the area’s shelters. At least 75 have been vaccinated.ĭuring the winter's coldest days, the city opened warming centers, and members of the Summit County Continuum of Care, in connection with Community Support Services Inc. He said providers have routinely visited known camps to offer support services and to help get them into temporary and permanent housing, if they were willing. Lash said that over the past year, the city has been working with agencies that provide resources to homeless individuals, such as mental health or recovery care, transitional housing and the COVID-19 vaccine. We are taking it very slowly because we want to make sure we are able to document these residents and give them the appropriate transitional housing." "As time and additional funds allow, we will expand our efforts, but we have not expanded our efforts as of yet. "We're not discounting the other encampments we understand that there are many other encampments. "We understand it's a wide issue, we're kind of banging it off in bite-sized chunks," he said. After that, the city will focus on other areas where people camp. Homeless camps around Grace Park will be the first to be cleaned up starting Monday, said Eufrancia Lash, Akron's deputy director of public service and neighborhood assistance. More: Akron’s homeless at heightened risk during coronavirus pandemic More: 'There's a war against homeless people in Akron': CSX railroad disperses Grace Park camp More: More homeless seeking less help during pandemic, forcing providers to rethink how to help The city said that for 14 months its policy of not dispersing encampments was per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to prevent community spread of the coronavirus within the city's homeless population and beyond.īut following the state's June 2 lifting of COVID-related health orders and restrictions, Akron lifted the moratorium and has chosen to adopt a "housing first" approach to the homeless population. City sets 'housing first' policyĭuring the pandemic, the city chose a hands-off approach to the city's homeless, as shelter space was scarce due to population restrictions on group settings, and many homeless were fearful of being grouped up in such settings. ![]() Notices to remove belongings were posted at the park and surrounding area last week, when the city announced that, in coordination with CSX Railroad, it will clear any property remaining in the park and on adjacent railroad land starting Monday. ![]() Some who accepted vouchers have left tents, trash and other belongings behind, between the park's boundary fence and the railroad tracks. It's uncertain how many people will remain, because some have been provided emergency vouchers for housing, while others say they are just going to find a less high-profile location to camp out. Whether they will be able to continue is in question, as the city has announced it will return to its pre-pandemic policy of clearing homeless encampments on public property. The volunteers have prepared meals since last August at least two days a week, on Thursday and Sunday afternoons and also on Saturday mornings for breakfast. On Thursday, about a dozen members of the group Serve the People Akron served dinner to Robinson and several dozen other homeless people, some of whom had come over from the nearby Haven, which is not affiliated with the group. He said that death was "two or three years ago."Īnother homeless man died after being stabbed in the neck at the end of March, just a block away from the park in front of the Haven of Rest Ministries on East Market Street. "I had another friend killed right there," he added, pointing to the grass a few dozen feet away. "This is a sad place," said Tonie Robinson, looking across Grace Park to a bench where a homeless man was shot in the head and died in May. ![]()
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