Much of the trash that was moldering in abandoned homeless camps around Durango – all 120 pickup loads – has been trucked away.
“We made a significant impact on our environment this year,” said Lt. Ed Aber, with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
After a bear attacked and injured homeless campers near the Tech Center in May, Aber formed a small coalition that includes Manna Soup Kitchen, Trails 2000, Bear Smart and local law-enforcement agencies to help cleanup camps.
Escalante Middle School students joined the effort Monday and learned about the living conditions of some homeless people in Durango. They helped dismantle seven abandoned camps in what was likely the last major cleanup for the season.
This winter, members of the homeless community are looking to maintain the progress that’s been made after they helped clean 247 abandoned camps.
Carl Bartlett, who has been homeless in Durango for six years, is one of those working to hold other campers accountable for their trash. The goal is to keep wildlife away.
The problem seemed daunting before the Sheriff’s Office and others becoming involved. Since then, the coalition has excavated truckloads of trash from behind the Tech Center and other areas.
Now, Bartlett cleans camps on his own when needed, because it much easier to tackle, he said. He is also working with a core group of other campers to educate newcomers on caring for the land.
Aber attributes some of the increased awareness of the importance of camp cleanliness to educational outreach by law enforcement.
Those who are good stewards of the land and live far away from trails avoid unwanted attention from sheriff’s deputies.
And there seems to be more trust between law enforcement and the homeless population, Bartlett said. When deputies give presentations at Manna Soup Kitchen, they also listen to the concerns or desires expressed by the homeless community, he said.
“For them to be heard, for them to be able to talk to a law-enforcement officer without being in trouble, it’s huge,” said Kathy Tonnessen, executive director of Manna.
The community at large has started a conversation to address homelessness, she said.
“It’s wonderful that our community, on some level, has decided to embrace the homeless people,” she said.
Sixth-graders at Escalante Middle School are studying homelessness as a societal issue and trying to understand different community views on homelessness, said Strider Fitzpatrick, a social studies teacher.
They started their in-depth project with the guiding question: What are Durango’s perspectives on homelessness? As part of the project, about 40 students participated in last week’s cleanup effort near Dallabetta Park.
They removed car mats, books, bottles, clothes and myriad other items left behind.
Some students came away with the impression that the homeless were trashy, but others were a bit more understanding.
“I’m not grossed out. We learned about homelessness and how people have to survive out here,” said Christopher Smith, 11.
Students learned about chronic and short-term homelessness and the many reasons people can face homelessness.
“I thought the homeless were scary, that they didn’t care about anything and kind of just quit their lives,” said Madelyn Napier, 11.
Since her studies began, she has learned some people make mistakes that lead to homelessness, and they are trying to fix it.
Aber helped organize the field trip for the students with other land-management agencies. At the end of the trip, he gathered them together to congratulate them on filling five pickup trucks with trash.
“We are making an impact,” he said. “We’re making a change.”
mshinn@durangoherald.com
