'Shocked:' Homeless encampment closure leaves many with nowhere to go

Carmen Negion isn't sure where she is going to go.

Negion, 59, who is deaf, has been living in the homeless encampment on North Oakland Street in Gastonia for the past five or six months. Speaking by typing messages out on her phone, she said she has been homeless on and off for a "very long time."

"I paid rent. People kicked me out, took advantage of me," she said.

On Monday, Negion, along with dozens of others, were displaced again. Faith, Hope and Love Community Enrichment Ministries, the nonprofit that has allowed the encampment to grow on its property, will no longer allow tent camping.

Moses and Monica Colbert, the leaders of Faith, Hope and Love, told the people living there that they had to leave by 2 p.m. Early Monday morning, many had already packed their bags, filling shopping carts with all that they owned and trudging toward North Oakland Street. Some, like Negion, clustered at the side of the road, their belongings piled beside them, unsure of where they would go next.

"I'm shocked. I hope they can help me to get (a) place to live or a motel," Negion said. "I'm not (a) bad person."

Amanda Vannoy said she has been living at the encampment for around a year. She also wasn't sure where she would go.

"I think it's ridiculous. We've done nothing but try to help this place," she said.

Nathan Whisnant, another resident of the encampment, said that not everyone at the encampment was using drugs or living with felony records, "but we have to leave because they trashed the place."

Whisnant, who had been living in the encampment since March, cleared out his tent Monday morning. As he pushed his shopping cart along the muddy ground, it tipped over, and he struggled to right it.

He said that he is hoping to be able to rent a motel room, then get a new ID and Social Security card. His wallet was stolen twice while he was living in the encampment.

"That's why I'm still without a job now," he said.

Nyrobe Miller, another resident, said that the people who have been living in the encampment need help.

"You got disabled people down here. You got people with mental illnesses," he said.

The announcement that the encampment would be cleared came suddenly on Wednesday, but it was precipitated by a snarl of legal troubles. The city of Gastonia sued Faith, Hope and Love earlier this year. City officials intended to ask a judge to have the encampment cleared, but the city also has fined Faith, Hope and Love for zoning and nuisance ordinance violations. The nonprofit now owes the city more than $100,000, and the fines accrue each day.

Adding to their troubles, a resident of the encampment, 57-year-old Freddie Byrd, was shot and killed Aug. 20. Fifty-six-year-old Donald Ray Beatty, who also lived on the property, is charged with first-degree murder.

Monica Colbert said in an interview that she hopes that the city will forgive the fines against Faith, Hope and Love now that the encampment has been cleared. She said that Faith, Hope and Love will continue to feed and clothe people who are homeless.

"We're still going to continue to serve them everyday, just not in the same capacity," she said.

Gastonia spokesperson Mary Elliott said that what happens to the nonprofit will be left up to a judge. Faith, Hope and Love has a court date on Sept. 5.

Representatives from several community aid organizations set up in a parking lot near the encampment on Monday morning.

HELP Carolina, which helps people access housing vouchers and other resources, was present, along with Salvation Army, which has an emergency shelter. Also present was Partners Behavioral Health Management, which offers access to mental health and addiction treatment and tries to connect people to housing options, as well as ICGH Treatment Centers, which offers help with housing, treatment for opiate addiction, and more.

Sheila Taylor, a peer support specialist with ICGH, said she struggled with addiction for 31 years before becoming sober at the age of 61.

"We give people a chance to start over. All it takes is for them to have the courage to change," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Homeless encampment closure leaves many with nowhere to go