BILLINGS — The city of Billings recently cracked down on urban camping near St. Vincent Depaul on South 30th Street after officials said the problem grew out of control.
This decision comes almost a year after local businesses located in that area complained about the increase of urban camping in the area.
Last week, that increase hit its tipping point. On Tuesday, St. Vincent Depaul closed its doors — hanging a sign on the windows that said they wouldn't reopen until the sidewalks were cleaned up. Hours later, Billings police and code enforcement officers arrived on scene removing tents and unhoused residents.
While the decision seemed like a long time coming, some are concerned about what it means for those affected. Craig Barthel, the founder of Off The Streets — a nonprofit that helps the unhoused in Billings — is among those worried about their future.
"The city didn't have a choice," Barthel said. "They had to do what they had to do. But the sad part of that reality is that those folks, they really don't have any place else to go because that was this is kind of their last option.”
Barthel said the decision made by the city was out of their control after the urban camping problem had gradually gotten worse.
"It started with just a few tents, a few people staying overnight, which was never allowed before," Barthel said. "Once that was allowed, it just grew. And so all of a sudden you saw maybe 20 or even more tents here on the sidewalk.”
A big reason for that growth is due to the services in the area. St. Vincent's Depaul hands out meals six days a week, and the Montana Rescue Mission is located just a block away.
Still, Barthel fears that the decision will only move the population to different parts of the city.
"It dispersed that population then to parks, to alleys and to backyards," Barthel said. "They have to sleep somewhere. They can't be invisible."
Barthel's concerns also felt by Billings resident and advocate for the unhoused Kari Boiter.
"We can either provide shelter for them or we're going to have to try to police our way out of this," Boiter said.
Boiter believes that law enforcement will never solve the true problems at hand and that the city of Billings should invest more resources into the services for the unhoused.
"There has to be a place for them during the day and at night," Boiter said. "It needs to be a seven-day-a-week, 24-seven, 365 operation. It can't close on holidays and weekends. What do they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care?”
St. Vincent Depaul reopened Saturday to clear sidewalks and for now, they've stayed that way. Still, Boiter and Barthel agree that this was only a band-aid solution for a problem that desperately needs to be fixed.
"This is an opportunity for buildings to really get behind this, to come together, to unite, to provide a solution for our chronically homeless neighbors because winter is coming," Barthel said.
