Milford’s largest homeless encampment will be cleared in January after the privately owned land where it sits was sold to a new owner.
The encampment roughly doubled in size over the past year, with nearly 40 people now living in tents spread across a few acres of forest at the end of a dirt road west of Route 113.
Residents didn’t learn of the property's sale until the beginning of this week; Martha Gery, director of Milford Advocacy for the Homeless, learned of the sale through the Milford Police Department's behavioral health unit and informed residents herself.
After negotiations with Milford Vice Mayor Jason James, the new owner agreed to delay the clearance by a week, giving camp residents until mid-January to find a new place to live — and places to store their belongings.
Gery, who leads efforts to provide tents, heaters, food and other essentials to the camp, says that the process of relocating will itself be an immensely difficult undertaking. Camp residents with disabilities may struggle to move their belongings, and others have work schedules that leave them limited time to pack up their tents.
“We have a larger number than ever of people who are working," she said. "They will only have nights to do that – in the dark – or the weekends, if they don’t work weekends. But many of them do.”
The encampment's residents include a notable number of employees at the Perdue poultry processing plant across town.
The move will be especially challenging in winter weather, and Milford's Code Purple shelter — the city's only shelter, which only opens during the winter — has only 10 open beds. Code Purple also only operates at night, posing a challenge for those looking to store their belongings.
While some state-level emergency housing assistance programs exist, Gery notes that some camp residents have already used those programs and exhausted their benefits. She says she hopes to raise enough money to provide motel vouchers as a temporary fix as temperatures drop near or below freezing.
Milford Mayor Archie Campbell says he will meet with City Council January 9th to discuss the city’s response but worries the city may not be able to afford to provide housing assistance to encampment residents.
“It’s like - where does it end?" he asked. "That’s going to be one of the questions. If we budget this money, and then we run out mid-year, what do we do?”
The displacement of the camp could also pose challenges for residents who rely on the nearby Brandywine Counseling and Community Services drop-in center for medication, substance use treatment and other key services, which is within walking distance of the encampment's current location. Brandywine Assistant Director of Prevention and Early Intervention Rebekah Nuttall will be meeting with community partners in the first week of January to discuss the resources on offer for those displaced.
