Camping ordinance forces homeless to migrate

Photo: Sam Landsman

Photo: Sam Landsman

Photo: Sam Landsman

An American flag waves above a new cluster of tents on Monument Creek. 

The jogging trail along Monument Creek lies hidden just beneath Highway 25. Most of the wooded area between the trail and creek cannot be seen when viewed from the roads. From the trail, however, it is clear that the mile between CC and the smokestacks has become a refugee camp. In the past week, hundreds of campers have fled to the creek, anticipating police action after last Tuesday’s vote to outlaw camping on public lands.

The ordinance defines camping as “sleeping or making preparations to sleep,” “occupying a shelter such as sleeping bag,” “the presence of a heating source,” or the “storing of private property.” Any person caught committing these actions on public land will be given a warning and referral to a homeless shelter. If the camp is not dismantled within 48 hours, the people occupying it will be ticketed and jailed if fines are not paid. 

There has been considerable debate as to whether Colorado Springs can afford to shelter its entire homeless population after its recent budget cuts. Because of this, tickets can only be issued if there is shelter space available. The city is also offering free bus tickets out of Colorado Springs to any homeless people who chooses to leave.

Former homeless Colorado Springs City Councilman Tom Gallagher said he is concerned about forcing campers to enter shelters. He questioned the morality of taking away citizens’ freedom to camp, and lodged a fear that people with emotional and psychological issues may have difficulty functioning within the structure of a shelter. 

Gallagher also worried for homeless families that may want privacy, pet-owners who do not want to abandon their dogs, addicts that are not allowed in substance-free shelters, and people of different religions who may not feel comfortable in church-run shelters.

Patrick Ayers, executive of Colorado Springs Homeless Outreach Program and Empowerment (CS HOPE), told the story of a woman named Julia to explain how some homeless people may not function well in shelters. According to Ayers, Julia was a “drop-dead-gorgeous” young violinist in the Colorado Springs philharmonic orchestra. Her parents were well-known community members and she had two young children. 

Five years ago, Julia suffered a miscarriage while having her third child. While in the hospital, an anesthesiologist accidentally gave her a double dose of painkillers. She suffered severe brain damage. Four years ago, she ran away from home because she was terrified that her family might take her to a doctor. Her husband, heartbroken, sold his cello and disappeared.

Julia’s parents searched for her for years, and she was only recently discovered living in a hole not far from Colorado College. Julia is still too scared to return home, but social workers plan to find her a violin that might help her heal. In the meantime, she lives outside. It is doubtful that she would do well in a homeless shelter.

Proponents of the ordinance, however, say it is needed to reduce the pollution and environmental impacts of homeless camps on the surrounding areas. The police department said that since 2001, over 260 twenty-yard containers of trash have been removed from the homeless community. Fire hazards and tourism were also concerns.

“You drive into town and there’s America’s mountain on one side and trash dumps on the other. That’s not going to fly for too long,” said Ayers. 

Several people at the open meeting spoke up about the need to force people into shelters where they would be better protected from the elements and perhaps given more opportunities to become “responsible.”

“This program got people running from one side of the street to the other. They’re scared,” said Ayers. 

He said that last week, believing that it was inevitable that the ordinance would be passed, he went into the camps and told the homeless community to move their tents to less noticeable areas while they still had the chance. 

“I went in there and told them, ‘we’re all going to jail, it’s just a fact of life . . . what they can see from the highway is what they’re going after,” said Ayers. The hastily assembled tent city along Monument Creek is the result of his warning.

Eight of nine city councilmen voted in favor of the ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting. Many members of the homeless community, social workers, and students attended. Several CC students spoke at the meeting, including Jack Regenbogen, Daniel Kidney, and Justin Cook. 

“The right to survive is being taken away right here,” said Cook, 20. 

This semester, Cook and fellow organizers in Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began a campaign to raise awareness about the homeless community in Colorado Springs. They have organized and hosted a series of discussions, letter-writing tables, viewings of city council meetings, publications of homeless population statistics, and brainstorming sessions both on campus and in the wider community. 

Last Friday, students wearing bandanas, homeless men with backpacks, and suit-clad women on their lunch break gathered at noon on the steps of city hall to protest the ordinance. They held signs with slogans including, “Being homeless is not a crime!” and “We’re human too!” The event was high-energy, with wild cheering every time a passing driver complied with a grinning man’s banner; “Honk If You Support the Homeless!” 

“It’s you young people who give a crap who will change this,” said Ayers.