EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Some residents in South-Central El Paso are concerned about a makeshift homeless camp.
The homeless camp is at Myrtle Avenue and Noble Street on an abandoned lot.
One resident, who lives near the encampment, said the issue has been going on for a few months.
“They are always asking for money. I’m scared in the morning when I go to work, that they’re going jump me or try to steal my car or something. So it just it’s really bad,” said the resident who didn’t want to give his name.
Laura Cruz-Acosta, a spokesperson for the City of El Paso, said that they are aware of the camp and have been receiving reports about it.
“We’ll go and send our streets outreach team and the streets outreach team will visit with the individuals who are experiencing homelessness and have a conversation with them in order to provide any kind of assistance, whether it be shelter, whether it be food, any kind of information that they’re looking for,” Cruz-Acosta said.
Cruz-Acosta said that the property, which is now primarily occupied by tents, once had home that caught fire in 2022 and then it was demolished. Because it’s private property, she said that makes dealing with the issue a little more complicated.
“It is private property. It’s not the City’s property. And so we cannot just enter the facility without acknowledgment by the property owner. We have to go through a specific process,” she said.
The City confirmed that they removed the encampment last week. However, when KTSM was out there on Tuesday, Dec. 10, there were tents on that property again.
Cruz-Acosta encourages the community to visit El Paso Helps to learn more about the available resources that are available to help people dealing with homlessness and other crisis.
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