In the past week, dozens of our neighbors experiencing homelessness had their homes destroyed or were forced to move as encampments in the Foggy Bottom area and Ward 2 were cleared. These encampment closures, conducted by Mayor Bowser’s administration and the National Park Service, forced our neighbors to leave their homes, many with nowhere else to go.
Volunteers from several advocacy groups, including the Miriam’s Kitchen team, were at the encampment sites to assist encampment residents in gathering their belongings before they were taken or destroyed:
“Evicting encampments doesn’t actually work. It doesn’t actually house anyone.” MK Advocacy Director Dana White to the GW Hatchet
“Encampment displacement is always really harmful. It’s hard for the people involved, it doesn’t do anything effectively to help end homelessness. People will just be moving to other places in the area.“ MK’s Deputy Director Adam Rocap to WUSA-9
“At best, all we’re doing is moving the problem or making it less visible. And what’s happening more is it’s setting us backwards.” Rocap to Fox 5 DC
“Housing is the answer. That’s the way we should be addressing this issue. So that’s at the city level. There needs to be more funding. And that’s where the street outreach teams like Miriam’s Kitchen – that are working day in and day out to make that happen – are critical. And things like these types of closures don’t help and actually set that all backward.” Rocap to DC News Now
“All encampment closures do is make homelessness less visible, less safe and harder for us to connect folks to housing. The trauma of this is very visceral. … There could have been a more targeted approach.” Rocap to The Washington Post
“[An encampment closure] actually causes harm, and it actually makes homelessness worse. And instead, what we need to do is keep investing and helping people connect to life-saving services and housing, and not kick them out of where they’re trying to stay safe and sleep before they have a home or a roof over their head.” MK’s Chief Advocacy Officer Lara Pukatch to NBC Washington
The recent encampment closures were also the key focus of a segment titled “Homeless in America” on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper.
As we know, encampment evictions do nothing to end homelessness. Many of the residents that were part of this encampment closure moved here after the McPherson Square eviction in February 2023. Once again, they are left with no place else to go. And as our neighbors continued to be shuffled around the city from one closed encampment to another, we want to make it clear that one thing ends homelessness – and that is housing.
Currently, the mayor’s proposed budget for next year includes NO new housing vouchers for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. There’s still time to send your message to the DC Council and encourage them to make bold and necessary investments in proven programs that prevent and end homelessness in DC.
