Arrival of large trash bin signals planned cleanup at Capital Boulevard homeless camp
At a sprawling homeless camp off Capital Boulevard at Interstate 540, help arrived Friday in the form of a 15-cubic yard roll-off trash bin.
Triangle Family Services, a nonprofit agency that provides food, clothing and other basics to homeless people, arranged for the bin’s delivery on the edge of a camp that has drawn complaints and concerns lately. Agency staff and volunteers are expected to come out this weekend to help residents clean up piles of trash and debris that have been years in the making.
“They’re going to hopefully make a project out of it this weekend,” said Michael Kelly, a street outreach specialist for the agency. “And hopefully by Monday it will look a whole lot different.”
NCDOT owns the property
People have been living in this sliver of land between eastbound I-540 and an exit ramp to Capital Boulevard for years. But as the trash has grown and became more visible this winter, the owner of the property, the N.C. Department of Transportation, began receiving complaints.
NCDOT says it has no plans to remove the camp, as long as it doesn’t pose a safety risk to the public or the people living there. The department says it is following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says clearing homeless camps during the COVID-19 pandemic risks spreading the virus.
Triangle Family Services, which has visited the camp over the years, received offers of help after an article about the site appeared in The News & Observer earlier this week, said Seaira Green, who is part of a team from the agency that has helped residents there.
Private donations
Green said private donations are paying for the trash bin and for tools and cleaning supplies that residents and volunteers will use. A group from Seven Marks Church, about two miles away on Spring Forest Road, will be among the volunteers, Green said.
Kelly said he has mapped out pockets of trash and debris around the interchange and expects there’s enough there to fill the bin two or three times. Green said Triangle Family Services has use of the bin for 20 days.
“We can pace ourselves,” Green said. “We don’t want anybody to feel any pressure.”
Kelly, who was once homeless himself, said Triangle Family Services will help homeless people find shelter, but they have to do it voluntarily.
“We make people aware of who we are and what we do. We don’t browbeat people,” he said. “We let them know that help is available to those who want it.”
Kelly said he’s aware of at least one former resident of the camp who has a roof over his head now because of the agency’s help. His story is known to those still living there, he said.
“So they’re fully aware of how everything works,” he said. “But it’s still a matter of choice.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 1:38 PM.
