Homeless in Columbus: getting past the overpass (Updated)

Homeless under the Second Street Bridge.
Click on images for larger view.
(Dave Bender)
Heeding -- at least temporarily -- the demands of a municipal decision to clear out, several dozen homeless residents camped out beneath Columbus's Second Street Bridge made themselves scarce by noon Monday.

Today was the deadline for the some 50 homeless men to to move out from the hobo camp, set up under the overpass and alongside some railroad tracks. Nearby businesses had called for clearing the area.

Joe Riddle, director of the city's department of of community reinvestment told GPB News that the city plans to clear out the mattresses, blankets and meager personal belongings remaining in the makeshift lodgings in coming days. He says the homeless themselves requested trash cans in order to help clean up the area.

City representatives set up a table at the site for several hours a day twice a week throughout April, and helped the homeless obtain more stable living and, for some, employment arrangement.

Representatives are to meet this week with numerous homeless support groups to coordinate efforts to comprehensively deal with the city's indigent population. Riddle says several dozen are already moving to homes and shelters, and are dealing with alcohol and substance abuse problems.

Elizabeth Alcantara, director of the Homeless Resource Network, says that raised awareness of the plight of Columbus, Phenix City, Al., and the area's some 2,000 indigent residents is itself a positive step.

"We've had some recent newspaper coverage about people sleeping under the bridge; and while many people feel that, 'you know, we're sorry to see that in the paper, and to hear that' - I was thrilled, because it brings attention.

"We think that we're not a big city - we're not New York, we're not Atlanta, and we don't have homelessness here - and we do."

One fact that both Riddle and Alcantara agree on is that Columbus's homeless problem is largely homegrown:

“For the most part, the people that we are serving are from our area,” Alcantara says.

“They're down on their luck,” Riddle says, adding, “a lot of them are from Columbus; they've had a bad situation, and they end up out on the streets.”

Sleeping rough: Mattress, Bible, crutch and
shovel. Click on images for larger view.
(Dave Bender)