Just two days after state engineers discovered structural problems with the pilings that hold up southbound Interstate 35 in downtown Duluth last week, the city cleared out the area underneath the highway near the Depot known as Graffiti Graveyard.
It had been home to people living in tents who came under a spotlight late in the summer when police were called after physical assaults there. In September, talk began about clearing people out of the area.
Many of those living there left voluntarily as advocate groups scrambled to find others some shelter.
After the cleanup Nov. 20, the Minnesota Department of Transportation installed "No trespassing" signs and crews took measurements to be used in fencing off the area sometime this winter, said MnDOT engineer Duane Hill.
Deb Holman, an outreach worker for homeless advocate CHUM, said there were seven people in the area when city crews came to clear it. Five had been there for an extended time, Holman said.
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Lee Stuart, the director at CHUM, said that since September, four people moved, one went to a Loaves & Fishes home, four received housing vouchers and two have appointments for vouchers.
Of the seven people who were there Nov. 20, two are being housed at CHUM and the other five said "no thanks," Stuart said.
She said the past few months of collaboration with advocates and government officials has produced "good results."
"It was good that people got together," Stuart said. "The majority of the people there are on the path to housing."
Daniel Fanning, the communications director in Mayor Don Ness' office, said the city wanted to offer the people camping under the highway some leeway, allowing time for groups to help them find an alternative.
But dropping temperatures and a Nov. 16 fight led to clearing the area, Fanning said.
"There was a broad consensus that Graffiti Graveyard was no longer a safe place to live," Fanning said.
Joel Kilgour from Loaves & Fishes said the group effort was a refreshing turn of events.
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"For too long, the city's response has been to move people from place to place when they become a nuisance or unsightly," he said. "What happened at Graffiti has finally brought the city, county, advocates and people experiencing homelessness together to find solutions."
Stuart said CHUM has done well in the last three months to fulfill its mission of building relationships with the homeless and finding them housing. Once people are in a stable situation, work can begin on a "continuum of care," she said.
She said 10 families were served in the last quarter for a total of 47 people housed.
