ST. LOUIS — As a homeless encampment outside St. Louis City Hall grows to nearly two dozen tents, legislation on a homeless bill of rights is expected to be introduced Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • There are about 1,500 people on the streets and not enough shelter beds and resources to put them on a path toward housing and employment

  • The bill will address creating more shelter spaces and decriminalizing homelessness

  • Available shelters are at 82% capacity, according to Nick Duune, the city’s public information officer. He said organizations over the past few months have been connecting people to housing and resources

That’s according to Yusuf Daneshyar, secretary of communications for St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, who told Spectrum News that the bill is a priority. 

Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, 7th Ward, will join Board of Aldermen President Megan Green and the director of the Peter & Paul Community Services Center to announce the introduction of a slate of legislation to support the unhoused population in St. Louis City. The bill will address creating more shelter spaces and decriminalizing homelessness.

Daneshyar said there are about 1,500 people on the streets and not enough shelter beds and resources to put them on a path toward housing and employment.

Available shelters are at 82% capacity, according to Nick Duune, the city’s public information officer. He said organizations over the past few months have been connecting people to housing and resources.

“Outreach workers from the Department of Human Services, as well as the City's partners at Behavioral Health Response and Affinia Healthcare, have been out to the site multiple times a week over the past few months to do assessments and connect individuals to available housing and resources that address their underlying needs,” Dunne said. 

 

Multiple signs are planted next to many of the tents outside City Hall. Some advocate for a homeless bill of rights and accuse the St. Louis Board of Building Appeals of violating laws that keep homeless people outside.  

Below are the messages on some of the signs:

  • “Welcome to the city of refuge, a city within a city. The home of the houseless, providing hope to the hopeless through the love of Christ.”

  • “Give the homeless one acre of ground that they can put their tents free of harassment.”

  • “These homeless need shelter, food, a place to rest day and night, jobs and transportation assistance.”

  •  “Give the homeless in St. Louis a bill of rights. Just because we are houseless, does not mean we should lose our rights for shelter, showers, dignity and respect as human beings.”

  • “As St. Louis County and City spend Ram’s settlement on the needs of developers and politicians, where are the treatment residential programs for the homeless?”

 Adequate shelter has been an ongoing issue in St. Louis. Earlier this year, the city took down several tents from a homeless encampment along the St. Louis riverfront. 

At that time, Alex Cohen, an organizer with Tent Mission STL, predicted that most of the people removed from the camp to be back on the streets soon.

Also, since the beginning of the year, it’s been illegal to sleep on state-owned land, along with a slew of other provisions such as restricting state funding for permanent supportive housing in favor of temporary treatments. 

The Missouri Supreme Court is hearing arguments over the constitutionality of the law.