Minneapolis City Council committee hears update on now-cleared Nenookaasi encampment
Updated 7:19 p.m.
A south Minneapolis city lot that had sheltered homeless people for much of January was empty Wednesday morning, after the city evicted its residents Tuesday for trespassing.
Some of Camp Nenookaasi’s residents moved to another city-owned lot on the 2200 block of 16th Avenue South, but encampment organizer Nicole Mason said she lost track of many of the residents after the previous site was cleared.
“I still am looking for some of the relatives that haven’t made it here. We’ve been all night and in the morning, this afternoon we did some rounds. I went to the library. I don’t know if people went to families or went to somewhere,” Mason said.
City spokesperson Sarah McKenzie said the city will post notices to vacate the new location today and “close this new site very soon due to the ongoing public health and safety issues posed by encampments, especially considering the proximity to residences and the significant fire hazard posed by campfires and propane tanks.”
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The locked and fenced lot already had “no trespassing” signs posted, McKenzie said.
Other former camp residents and their supporters attended a city council public health and safety committee meeting Wednesday where city officials provided more details on the closure and efforts to get residents into shelters.
In an email, McKenzie said the city offered free transportation to shelter locations or the Mary F. Frey Minneapolis Opportunity Center, but none of the camp residents used it. Homeless outreach workers were also on hand and provided water, food, Narcan and socks. Two residents received medical services, including one who had overdosed, McKenzie said.
Camp Nenookaasi sprung up at East 26th Street and 14th Avenue South after the city closed its original iteration on Jan. 4. Both times, city officials cited public safety concerns. This time, they also pointed to a recent stomach virus outbreak and a non-fatal shooting early Monday morning.
Though the city notified residents they were trespassing and that a closure was imminent when they first resettled on the lot and in the weeks after, camp organizers said the city didn’t give them adequate warning.
Minneapolis police showed up Tuesday morning and began telling residents they had 90 minutes to pack up and leave. It took well into the evening for the camp to clear out.
It had housed predominantly Native people and was set up to be a safe and culturally responsive place for people, particularly with substance use disorders who were not willing to live in traditional shelter settings, where drug use is often prohibited.
Camp organizers supplied overdose reversal drugs and worked with social service organizations and the city to find treatment and housing for about 130 residents over the course of five months.
On Wednesday, Minneapolis Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher estimated there were 25 people who were still living in the relocated camp. Organizer Christin Crabtree estimated about 100 were living there at the time of the closure.
MPR News reporters Jon Collins and Matt Sepic contributed to this report.