A Chattanooga Public Works truck drives through the former site of a homeless encampment on city-owned property behind the municipal wellness center on East 11th Street on Thursday, April 12, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The camp’s residents were removed from the site because the property is a toxic brownfield. Out of 130 residents counted in the camp, 80 have applied for housing through Chattanooga Housing Authority and 8 have been approved, according to Twitter posts by Mayor Andy Berke’s deputy chief of staff Kerry Hayes.Employees at the Chattanooga Housing Authority still are working to accommodate dozens of people nearly two weeks after more than 100 homeless men and women had to clear out of a tent city on East 11th Street.
Some had been living there for months, while others had called it home only for a few days, but city officials announced earlier this month that the group needed to vacate the lot because the soil is hazardous to human health as a result of it being used for decades as a dump for industrial waste. Of particular concern are the remaining contaminants from a gasification plant that polluted the area with coal tar and foundry sand.
Staffers in Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke’s office have since coordinated with a number of local agencies that offer support services for homeless people to connect them with permanent housing.
The city also provided $15,000 in emergency funds to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen to reopen its emergency shelter for an additional two weeks to house tent city residents while they find long-term housing. Those two weeks ran out this weekend and, so far, 13 people have been placed in homes.
“The No. 1 goal we had was to ensure folks were no longer exposed to harmful contaminants, and last week we were successful in moving people off the property without incident,” said Sam Wolfe, the city’s homeless program coordinator. “In addition, many of the people are able get placed into housing or shelter that did not have the same opportunity when they were staying on the site.”