Englewood Homeless Along South Platte Given Notice To Vacate
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - The City of Englewood is telling homeless campers along the South Platte River near Dartmouth they must move within two weeks. It's not a pretty sight, but the hodgepodge of coverings has been home for people like Amanda for years.
"We have nowhere else to go, no home we don't have any family this is what we have," she told CBS4's Rick Sallinger. She declined to give her last name.
Englewood police and mental health counselors spread the word on Tuesday. Signs posted on trees indicate the area has been declared a public nuisance and those living there must move by June 3.
"We are staying. We are not moving," Amanda insisted.
She said a divorce turned her life inside out. She lost her seven children and ended up here for now. She has gotten a job at a nearby antiques store, but now her life is being upended again.
"It's like taking away my house. We are homeless. This is our community."
A community, she says, that has cookouts and group trips to food banks.
One lady named "Doll" looked at the eviction notice with dismay. She sees the city action as more like a band-aid, not a solution.
"The homeless problem doesn't go away just because people don't want to see it," she said.
The City of Englewood reports there has been a stabbing there, trip wires discovered to to keep people away, drugs and human waste that must be cleaned up.
"We have to live like that, but they don't care," Amanda said.
An organization that aids the homeless plans to assist with food, medical aid and shelter during the cleanup which starts June 4.
