The National Park Service (NPS) and the Bowser Administration are slated to evict and permanently close 5 encampment sites in Foggy Bottom between May 15th and May 20th, a harmful approach that will displace up to 70 people. While a small NPS encampment closure was scheduled months ago, NPS has recently expanded the scope of these evictions and DC has taken this opportunity to close various sites on the same timeline.
Displacing encampment residents does nothing to end homelessness and in fact harms the collective efforts made to ensure that our neighbors have a safe place to call home. Encampment evictions traumatize residents, create distrust, and bring additional chaos to the lives of individuals who are already in survival mode.
Displacement harms our neighbors
Clearing encampments damages trust and relationships that outreach case managers have worked hard to build with residents. People are living in encampments because they have nowhere else to go and displacing them further puts them at risk. Encampment residents include some of our most vulnerable neighbors experiencing chronic homelessness and evictions will make it difficult for them to access the life-saving support and services they need to survive. Homelessness is a traumatic experience and the forceful eviction of encampments, often under threat of arrest, only adds to that trauma. Many of those that will be displaced from Foggy Bottom were displaced from the McPherson Square eviction in February of 2023.
Encampment evictions make it harder to end homelessness
An estimated 20 people living in the encampments slated for eviction are matched to a housing voucher. While DC must accelerate its housing process, displacing individuals from encampments will only make their housing process longer – or disrupt it all together and force people to start over. Housing and supportive services end homelessness while encampment evictions will make it worse. To date, the DC government has conducted at least one encampment “engagement” every single day of this year, totaling over 80 “engagements.”
Everyone needs a safe place to sleep – encampment evictions take that away
The Bowser Administration and National Park Service are moving forward with these clearings in the context of a proposed local budget with no new resources for housing, decreased funding for street outreach, and severe cuts to DC’s social safety net. In addition, there are no shelter beds available, let alone any for the 70 people that will be displaced by scheduled encampment closures. If NPS and the DC government move forward, they will be clearing these encampments without any resources to offer residents. Everyone needs a safe place to sleep and evicting encampments denies residents this basic need.
New, non-congregate shelter provides a safe solution to unsheltered homelessness
Small, dignified non-congregate shelters provide a proven alternative to sleeping outside. One such shelter, the Aston, was scheduled to open in Ward 2 last fall. However, the opening of the shelter has been delayed until August. Clearing encampments when there is a non-congregate shelter solution just blocks away and just months from opening is particularly egregious.
The Way Home Campaign is calling on the Bowser Administration and the National Parks Service to halt this eviction and ensure every encampment resident has options that meet their needs.
Due to our advocacy, DC has made progress towards ending chronic homelessness by funding vouchers and offering shelter options that help meet the needs of our neighbors in the process of getting housed. The Aston, a non-congregate shelter option, was scheduled to open in Ward 2, close to the encampments in question, last fall. However, the opening of the shelter has been delayed until August. Clearing encampments when there is a non-congregate shelter solution just months from opening is particularly egregious. Instead of focusing on displacing and evicting our neighbors, the Bowser administration should devote energy and resources to implement its existing plan to end homelessness and to connect residents to housing options that are already funded.
We know you are committed to ending chronic homelessness through solutions that work rather than harmful practices that get in the way of our progress. Please join us in taking action here.
If you are part of a local or national organization, please click here to join our sign-on letter.
For more information, please email Nadia at nadia.malik@miriamskitchen.org