Thread by @nicolesantacruz

This year, @ProPublica has been looking into the impacts of cities increasingly removing or “sweeping” encampments. We spoke with 135 people who had experienced sweeps. We also distributed notecards so people could write about it in their own words. 🧵

Many people told us that having possessions taken during sweeps is traumatizing, can exacerbate health issues and can be counterproductive to finding housing and getting a job. We spoke with Violette Loftis in Portland who avoids sweeps by sleeping in doorways without a tent.

Some cities store belongings after encampment removals. We reviewed records from 14 cities. Some of the records were detailed, listing the brand names of items and colors. Others were sparse, only listing a “personal item.” We also visited storage facilities in SF and Portland.

I spoke with Rebecca Huggins in Phoenix who had her tent and other gear taken from her over the summer as temperatures climbed into triple digits. She said losing her tent made her feel less safe.

Other people mourned the loss of irreplaceable items like ashes. In Portland, we spoke to Teresa Stratton, who told us her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal. She said she hopes “he’s not in the dump.”

In all, we (Ruth Talbot, @asiakmfields, @mayatmiller & myself) spoke with more than 300 people about these actions and reported from 11 cities. We hope you'll take some time to read: projects.propublica.org/homeless-encam…