Safety, sanitation concerns made the homeless encampment behind FCC untenable

One of a handful of tents still up behind FCC in Rochester. At bottom left, a propane tank likely used for cooking or heating; inset, sign alerting tenters on Monday action . (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - The Rev. Eliza Tweedy of First Congregational Church is between a rock and a hard place.
On the one hand she has always been a passionate champion of the homeless and felt it her duty and that of the church community to help those in need.
But soon after a recent tent city blossomed in her church's back yard, she realized "this is not sustainable," she told The Rochester Voice on Thursday.
She praised the some 20 individuals who pitched about a dozen tents and makeshift shelters along an iron fence behind the church.
"They have been a wonderful group," she said. "We have had no issues. They take care of their trash and keep the area clean."
But it came down to two things that made her realize the church did not have the resources to make this a sustainable effort.
Sanitation and safety
Tweedy emphasized that the city of Rochester has no public toilet and shower facilities to take care of the homeless and transient population.
"We knew we did not have all the resources that are necessary in this particular moment to provide a solution to those who are seeking housing," she said.
The other factor was safety, exhibited by the presence of a propane tank that was near one of the tent sites on Thursday as pictured in the Rochester Voice photo above.
Living in tents in the cold is fraught with danger as illustrated in tent fire deaths in recent years, Tweedy noted.
"We don't want a tragedy to happen," she said. "That is on our radar, too."
In December 2020 a homeless Manchester man died in a tent fire and explosion two days after he'd gotten a $70 Mr. Buddy propane heater.
And in November a homeless man was found dead in a tent fire in a wooded area near Eagle Drive in Sanford, Maine.
When Tweedy made the decision that her church community could not sustain the existence of the encampment she reached out to Rochester Welfare Director Todd Marsh, whom she called extremely supportive and collaborative in helping to lead a safe, compassionate relocation of those who had sought sanctuary at her church.
Marsh, meanwhile, said he wanted to make it clear that despite recent headlines in local media that implied the city was leading the effort to remove the encampment, that was simply not the case.
"There seems to be a developing narrative that the disbandment was a city decision, but it was not the city's decision as the encampment is on private church property," Marsh told The Voice on Thursday. "We are in a supportive and collaborative role."
Marsh said church officials reached out to the city to seek a safe and compassionate way to remove the tents.
In fact, the city of Rochester has never unilaterally made moves to take down the tents of the homeless that are on private property unless they come at the landowners' request.
The tents were originally scheduled to be taken down today but Marsh reached out to Tweedy to suggest they wait till Monday so nonprofits and various other agencies could work more closely with those being displaced to help them find shelter alternatives during the work week.
Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham said on Thursday they'll look to have a low profile during Monday's tent removal.
"We are obviously hoping this goes as well as possible and without any issues," he told The Voice. "This will hopefully be a collaborative effort between everyone involved to peacefully relocate people and assist them the best way possible given the options that are available at that time. We are hoping these efforts will not require police intervention. With that being said, if any issues arise that rise to the level of criminality or present a safety risk to anyone involved, we will respond and take whatever appropriate action is necessary."
With this weekend's nor'easter bearing down on the Northern Seacoast it is expected that the Willand Warming Shelter in Somersworth will be open.
Meanwhile, some of the homeless folk that remain in the handful of tents still up behind the South Main Street church are preparing for Monday's eviction.
One homeless man who emerged from one of the tents Thursday afternoon told The Voice he was on his way to check out some shelter options.
"How long you been homeless?" this writer asked him.
"About six years," he said.
"How'd it happen?" we asked.
"Life," he said as he hurried on his way.