Vang leaned into the blue and gray tent he’s called home in recent years, grabbed a piece of clothing and held it over an open fire to watch it burn.
The 54-year-old, who declined to share his last name, is from Laos but grew up in Wisconsin. He moved to Minnesota after losing his job and often slept in the homeless encampment near Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul after growing tired of shelters' schedules and waiting for beds to open. But he and others awakened Thursday to crews telling them to leave: The city is closing the encampment and asking residents to find shelter or go elsewhere.
“They’re out here helping,” Vang said of city workers and volunteers cleaning the site. “Which is good because it really did help us — otherwise we’d be in trouble with this temperature.”
City officials publicized plans to close the homeless encampment in early January, posting eviction signs explaining that the area has become a health and safety risk. A December email from St. Paul’s Homeless Assistance Response Team suggested that a growing number of safety incidents, such as uncontrolled fires and assaults, reached critical mass and prompted the city to close the site.
As Vang and others packed their belongings into trash bags, trucks and trailers, members of the St. Paul Fire Department checked residents for frostbite and offered mental health support and transportation. Outreach workers stepped over pennies, toys, car bumpers and discarded winter clothes to fetch more than 20 propane tanks from tents in the camp.
The winter breeze carried the smell of burning wood and cloth. Beeps and grinding wheels from skid-steer loaders hoisting broken tents mingled with the rip of tarps tearing under outreach workers' knives. As Familiar Faces worker Sam Stoltz knocked at a tent, a man’s voice wavered from a nearby tent.
“Sorry ... today’s the day of the move,” Stoltz said. “Let us know if you need any help.”
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter attended the camp closure Thursday morning, touring the site while speaking with volunteers and peering inside abandoned tents. Carter said more could be done to help unsheltered residents, and more support could go a long way.