WILMINGTON, N.C. — Law enforcement agencies across the state are cracking down on homeless encampments.
Unhoused individuals were kicked out of camps in Gastonia and Fayetteville this summer. Now, on the coast, Wilmington’s homeless population is going through the same.
What You Need To Know
- New Hanover County’s largest homeless encampment on the city’s northwest side was forced to vacate on Oct. 18
- The Wilmington Police Department says the land is owned both privately and by the NCDOT and that landowners wanted the camp out
- Signs were posted in advance letting the unhoused individuals seeking shelter there know that after the Oct. 18, they would be considered trespassing
Along Wilmington’s Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, you can see lines of tents through the openings in the trees.
Nearly 100 unhoused individuals have been camping here for months. Charles, who did not wish to provide his last name, is among the individuals and estimates he’s been at the camp for a year and a half.
“I got out of prison and didn’t have no place to go,” Charles said. “And met a lot of nice people in Wilmington and decided to stay here.”
Charles may be homeless, but this place has come to be his home, or at the very least, a homebase. That’s why he’s upset he and the rest of the camp will have to leave.
The encampment sits on both land owned privately and land owned by the North Carolina Department of Public Transportation. The Wilmington Police Department says the land owners reached out to initiate enforcement of the law, which in this case, is second degree trespassing.
“They came a week ago and put up flyers saying that we had to vacate the property,” Charles said. “And it’s just gonna be really hard to meet that deadline because like I said, we have a lot of people that aren’t able to pack their own stuff, you know. We gotta help, and it’s just too much to get done in a week.”
By the time the police and NCDOT got there Wednesday morning to install new “No Trespassing” signs and begin the enforcement, many individuals were still in their tents or packing their belongings. Nearly all of them still unsure of where they’d go next.
Many homeless shelters in the area are at capacity or working off a waiting list and are unable to handle an influx of people in need of shelter. Charles says he doesn’t know what’s next for him or, even more importantly, the people who have come to be his neighbors.
“I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself,” Charles said. “I’m more nervous for everyone else, you know. A lot of these people, a lot of females that depend on us as a family for their own security, you know, it’s not easy being homeless.”
WPD officers at the encampment Wednesday morning said they understand the process will take individuals some time, and that while they will be understanding, they will still need to enforce the law.
