about the Minneapolis homeless camps

[mellowtigger]

A decade ago at the Occupy camp, it was illegal to set up a tent anywhere for any reason, even in your own backyard.  I can't find evidence that the law was ever changed.  Since then, tents have been the only option available for too many people, and it's been true for too many years.  The city keeps trying to simply erase them, and that tactic keeps failing because the community wants an actual solution instead of a whitewashing.

I wrote about my visit to the North Loop encampment earlier this week.  Sadly, arson destroyed a portion of the camp about 2.5 days later.  It appears that gasoline(?) was used on a lot of stuff to burn it quickly.

In a Twitter thread about the encampments, the Minneapolis Ward 2 representative notes that the city is updating its official documents on the subject.  It's not yet clear to me if something has already changed, or if a change currently is being discussed.

"This indicates to me that external scrutiny from residents over the city’s handling of encampments and the housing crisis has had an impact.  The publication of this new information is a step forward towards increasing transparency & accountability to the public around encampments."

So public involvement in this ongoing issue is making a positive difference, if slowly.  Keep calling the government.  Keep donating to charities.  Keep expressing support for the homeless.  The systems that got us here can be changed.

Edit:  A building that houses a charity for helping the homeless just went up in flames too.  There's a way to donate to them too.