Advocates seek to assist homeless camp holdouts find shelter elsewhere

About a dozen advocates from area nonprofits were on hand near the encampment trying to assist those homeless people that are being asked to leave the premises. (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - It was nothing less than heart-wrenching today as a handful of homeless folks who have been living in tents behind First Congregational Church refused to come out of their makeshift shelters as advocates from area nonprofits gathered on the sidewalk that runs parallel to the tiny tent city discussed how to humanely get them to leave.
"Are you going to be able to gather up whatever stuff you want to take, and is it OK if we dispose of what you leave?" queried one of the advocates while standing just outside one of the tents where a young woman remained holed up inside.
The City of Rochester is helping to coordinate the takedown of the remaining handful of tents, which was supposed to begin at 11 a.m., but didn't as some of those inside the tents just didn't come out.
Rochester's Community Outreach Coordinator Erin Nasino, who has been reaching out to the homeless living behind the church since the tent city spontaneously appeared abut a month ago, said she is hoping to get the bulk of them into the Willand Warming Center in Somersworth later today.
She acknowledged some of them might not want to go, but is hopeful at least some of them will.
"Some of them are probably going to be going back into the woods," Nasino said.
Members of Karlee's Home Team, which is operating the warming center this year, said they're hopeful the three fire chiefs of Dover, Somersworth and Rochester will approve the continued opening of the shelter at least throughout a massive rain and windstorm that is expected to arrive on Wednesday even though temperatures will likely be up in the 50s, far above the threshold normally needed to open the shelter.
The Willand Warming Center is not a permanent winter shelter but opens only during severe weather events including mostly snowstorms and extreme cold snaps.
"They've (the fire chiefs) have been very good so far," Nasino said. "I can't promise the center will be open, but I hope it will."
Leaders of the First Congregational Church recently reached out to the City of Rochester to help them coordinate the takedown of the encampment.
The Rev. Eliza Tweedy of FCC said the church found it unsustainable to allow the encampment to continue due to sanitary and safety issues.
Rochester Police did not plan to be present at today disassembling of the tents unless they were called due to safety concerns.