Groups converge to clear homeless from under bridge
City crews clear makeshift communities from under I-675
By Terry Camp SAGINAW (WJRT) -- (07/16/08)--The
Wednesday, workers from four city departments converged on an area near the Saginaw River. That's where the homeless built they're own little city within a city.
It's estimated that more than a dozen people have been living under the bridge in makeshift homes and tents, and while those are now gone, they have other places to stay.
"There are probably 75 percent of the people in the city that do not even know this exists," said Alen Rabideau with the Saginaw Police Department.
As many people travel high atop I-675 over the city of Saginaw, below the bridge, a community has existed.
"And they've got a little regular house going on in here," Rabideau said.
There, the world of the homeless is laid out in makeshift homes, tents, and mattresses, protected from the rain by the expressway above and neatly hidden by the trees.
But nearby businesses and homeowners know they are there.
"Vandalism, petty larcenies, pan handling -- just nuisances on the street corners, begging for money," Rabideau said.
With those complaints, workers from four city departments converged on the area to dismantle the little neighborhood.
"This is unbelievable," said city inspector Rob Davis. "In this day and age, to think of people that live like this all the time."
Along with the daily essentials, they found other not-so-common household products.
"Needles, syringes, so they are doing drugs down here," Rabideau said.
One person who lived in the area quickly left once he saw what was going on.
Kenneth Streeter of the Saginaw Rescue Mission welcomes anyone that is displaced because of this cleanup operation. But sometimes, they don't want to come.
"We discourage the use of drugs and alcohol," he said. "It certainly isn't done on premise, and so it would kind of cramp their lifestyles."
But they will have to maintain their lifestyles somewhere other than under the I-675 bridge.
"Sleeping under here is illegal and it's very unsafe and unhealthy," Rabideau said.
Streeter says one of the mission's greatest success stories involves a woman who lived under the bridge but now has a job and has her own home.
