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The city of St. Paul will begin clearing a longstanding homeless encampment at Pig’s Eye Park Wednesday morning, despite weeks of pushback from residents, volunteers and service providers at the camp 

who warn it will fracture community and ongoing care for people who are trying to survive.

An estimated 100-200 people were living at the camp, also known as Fish Hatchery, 

when the Mayor’s Office announced the closure last month

, citing worsening health and safety concerns.

In the weeks leading up to the closure, outreach workers from the city and county were tasked with expanding efforts to connect people to shelter and eliminate barriers to housing, including replacing necessary documents — though there’s still a lengthy housing wait list and many residents feel unsafe at shelters or do not want to part with their pet or belongings.

“The goal is to make sure every person has the opportunity to connect with shelter, health care, and supportive services,” said Assistant Mayor Cedrick Baker in a Tuesday press statement. 

But in the final day leading up to the closure, many residents remained uncertain about what they were going to do next, while others — like Ksenia Gabrielle Burgoyne — said they planned to move to another encampment. Burgoyne said she’s been on the housing wait list for nearly five years.

“I think it’s really cruel to kick a homeless person out,” Burgoyne said, while rushing to pack up her belongings. “I personally don’t have a family member that I can call to say I’m struggling. I have absolutely no one.”

Still, Burgoyne said she’s grateful for community members who regularly come to the encampment to help out. On Tuesday morning, many of those volunteers walked through the camp, delivering sandwiches and water, and connecting with residents while time at the camp ran out. 

Jim Seemann, 79, is a volunteer who has been bringing resources to the camp for the past two years.

“After a period of time, you get to know these people, think of them as your friends — even begin to love them,” he said. “It’s very difficult for me to say goodbye.” 

The Mayor’s Office said a major impetus for the closure was that the camp grew too big. Seemann said he only noticed significant growth after a different encampment closure last year. 

“It seems to me that the city is unintentionally playing a game of whack-a-mole,” Seemann said. 

But Seemann said he promised many residents he would follow them wherever they go next in the city. 

One 53-year-old resident, Gregory Schulz Jr., said he already set up at a different camp. 

Schulz said he was banned from shelters after fighting someone who provoked him and hasn’t been able to get into housing, despite multiple attempts, because of a criminal record. 

But he has been trying to help other camp residents, coming back each day to make the move easier for others — especially the “old timers,” he said, like a man with a wheelchair who didn’t know where he would go.

Schulz said he doesn’t have much family left. Many family members have died or don’t want anything to do with him anymore, he said. But he has his own non-biological family in the encampment — his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews — who he is trying to stick with.

“My street family is more my family than my own family,” he said. 

With less than 24 hours to go before the closure, Kat Donnelly, a nurse with Healthcare for the Homeless, prepared for her job to change overnight. For the past couple years, Donnelly said she’s been able to make great progress with patients through the consistency of regularly checking in at the encampment. 

“It takes a long time to build trust in this community,” she said. “I’d like to hold up my end of the bargain. I’ve promised that I will be there to care for people and I want to continue to be able to do that.”

Late Tuesday morning, Donnelly scrambled to keep that promise — refilling medications, letting patients know drop-in sites where they can find her and trying to make sure a number of people with upcoming surgeries would be able to get that care. 

She said she has been asking all of her patients what their plans are. 

Donnelly said with little time left, she was still hearing the same thing, over and over: “I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I’m not sure where I’m going to go.” 

Late Tuesday afternoon, the city announced that starting Thursday county outreach workers will be available downtown from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a “transitional hub.” They will be there for the next two weeks to connect residents to shelter, housing, health care and financial assistance. 

The city has said it is providing limited storage for residents “prioritized for individuals who accept shelter” and the Familiar Faces program and HART teams will offer residents rides to available shelter. 

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Cari Spencer

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Many residents said they aren’t sure where they will go after the encampment is cleared out on Wednesday. Over 100 people were living at the camp when the Mayor’s Office announced the closure last month.

A person leaves a pack of water outside a tent

Ben Hovland | MPR News

Police officers stand in a homeless encampment

Volunteers carry bottled waters in hand carts

Debris is loaded into a trailer by a Bobcat

‘Difficult to say goodbye’: Residents, volunteers worry what’s next as St. Paul clears encampment

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