Tentatively called Camp Resurrection, the new lot is situated on a plateau on the northeast side of Lomas Boulevard and I-25. The tents are cropped together tightly, some tied to each other to help stem the high winds that often afflict the area, due to its location.
A makeshift fence, made up of medium sized sticks and rope encircle the lot, signs posted on the fence lay out rules and restrictions to residents, visitors and local media. Portable toilets have been placed within the Tent City for use by residents, but they will not be able stay for long as the lot being used is state land.
Steven Kramer, a UNM alum and ABQ Justice member, said constantly moving the homeless population of tent city is only prolonging the issue for them and the city itself.
“People say, ‘they are not our responsibility and they’re not our problem.’ The health and well-being of our city is our responsibility, it is our problem,” Kramer said. “A huge homeless population that has no real chance of anything, that is our problem.”
The current lot for “Camp Resurrection” is favorable due to the lack of residences in the area, which was a big problem at previous tent city locations.
Kramer said the location was also favorable to residents due to the major bus route it resides on, a route that leads to many food services and other outreach in various locations around Albuquerque.
Residents at Camp Resurrection received an initial eviction deadline of March 13 at 1 p.m., but Kramer was able to negotiate a weeklong extension, he said.
“We are going to have to move, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
From one location to the next
Mike Stein, a resident of Camp Resurrection, said the lot is more ideal than the original Tent City, but won’t last as he and other residents have been given a new eviction date of Friday.
“Moving is no fun,” Stein said. “We are just trying to keep our head above water and move on.”
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Every month Stein and his wife receive money, but that only lasts till the end of the first week, he said. He and his wife lived at Iron and First before they, like other residents, were given a one week hotel voucher and then subsequently left to fend for themselves on the street.
Like many residents of Camp Resurrection, Stein feels the city of Albuquerque has been doing its best to ignore the homeless population, he said.
“Sweeping us under the rug, I think. Out of sight, out of mind,” Stein said.
If Stein and his wife are evicted without another lot to move to, he said, they will be forced to once again stay hidden until the end of the month when that one-week supply of money provides a short hiatus from the pavement.
“Leaving these people to roam the streets, the cost of that is so much higher than addressing it head on and dealing with it,” Kramer said. “They’re people. When we were being moved every day, the people were suffering. I mean, People with mental health issues and stuff, things were coming on because of the additional stresses.”
Kramer and his fellow advocates got the one week eviction extension so the city can take a new proposal they have for a more permanent location and determine the proposal’s viability, he said. They started the proposal but left it open-ended to allow for further input from the residents and city as well as the provider community.
Kramer said the challenge is finding land where there are few neighbors, yet still close enough to the services they need.
Rules for residents
To combat the unwanted behavior that has plagued other incarnations of tent cities in Albuquerque, residents have implemented a policy at Camp Resurrection where everyone who lives there has to agree to actively work on conditions and abide by a set of rules during their stay.
He said the policy has been accepted and those unwilling to commit to pitching in for the greater good have stayed out of the camp.
If a resident breaks any of the rules, there will be a vote taken amongst the community to decide whether the offender can stay, Kramer said.
Matthew Reisen is a staff writer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
