On Nov. 13, I attended the rally outside City Hall to protest the Dec. 31 closure of the Bangor unhoused encampment behind the Hope House, referred to as “Camp Hope.” At the rally, I heard the voices of both people living in tents in Camp Hope and the workers who support them. A common theme of the speeches was empathy, asking the audience to see them not for their circumstances but for who they are inside. They asked the audience to recognize that they could be one life change away from similar circumstances. They repeatedly chanted “I am …,” encouraging people to fill in the blank with positive aspects of their identity. The rally stressed humanity above all.
The closure of Camp Hope is referred to as a “sweep.” In a sweep, unhoused people are removed from their locations and forced to go elsewhere. Sweeps are often disguised as something good- an effort to remove people from encampments and get them inside. However, these people don’t always have places to go. The sweep in 2021 forced individuals to take shelter in an empty house which burned down and killed three people inside. These sweeps are deadly. They are shown to increase suicide and overdose rates.
After the rally, we moved to the city hall meeting inside to hold banners. Individuals gave public comment, asking city officials to reconsider their plans to sweep the encampment in the middle of Maine’s harsh winter. Some volunteers who work with unhoused populations asked not even for a complete stop to the sweeps but simply for more time. They knew that the Dec. 31 deadline did not give them enough time to prepare for an uprooting of that degree. The resources are not available to support these people with that quick of a turn around.
Despite this, the City didn’t listen. They confirmed their plans to carry on with the Dec. 31 sweep, despite these being shown to kill. They didn’t listen to the calls of unhoused people directly in front of them. This is incredibly frustrating. While the Council has the right to make their own decisions, seeing the direct testimony of so many ignored calls into question if the Council will actually listen to their citizens on other important matters in the future.
I had the chance to hear concerns about the sweeps from a student volunteer of Needlepoint Sanctuary, Abbey Collins. She was drawn to the work by her interest in harm reduction as a social work major. She was disappointed “at the lack of empathy coming from the City.” Failure to listen to concerns betrays the trust that a city must have in its council. She also re-emphasizes that the sweeps will pose an immense health risk for the individuals involved. It will also disconnect them from resources, especially case managers provided by services like Needlepoint Sanctuary. Advocates and volunteers working with these people will lose the ability to help them as they become scattered.
The decision to carry on with the sweeps is harmful and damages the trust placed in the City Council. Bangor has refused to listen to both unhoused people and those working with them in regards to what’s best for their own life.
