City to shutdown homeless camp near Davidson Bridge

It's a difficult subject without an easy solution. Some of the city's homeless have taken shelter under a railroad overpass on Davidson Street on the southeastern edge of downtown.

"We look down and see trash laying everywhere," said Jack Price, who owns a business nearby.

For Price, it's about more than the trash, it's concern about safety. Community groups have disagreed about the best way to address the issue. They met for a town hall about it last week. Then over the weekend, the city put up notices, putting the homeless on notice to move out by Monday night.


The Davidson Street bridge is just one issue. Not only will these people have to clear out, but also the people who migrated a block that way, in a tent city. They'll also have to go.

It's a wooded area, where tents sprang up and now become a garbage dump of a few yards from the interstate. Among those who've called this hill home for the past few months are Denise and Juan Williams.

"Shelters are pretty much full, but my husband and I are married and there's not too many shelters for married couples," said homeless victim Denise Williams.

"We don't want to be separated," said her husband Juan.

So instead, this is how they chose to live.

"This is where people live, it's kind of hard to imagine that somebody lives here," said Donny Robinette of the Dream Center.

The plight has drawn more attention, in part because of outreach. Local church pastor James Thurston has been coming to the bridge for a decade and noticed a definite change.

"We've had a lot of social groups, community groups, church groups that brought a lot of stuff down, tarps, blankets, tents, and what was out of sight has become visible, and more people come," he told Fox59 News.

"They need to come up with a solution, putting them up in the weeds is not gonna do it," said Price.

If a solution comes, It'll have to start before 5:00 p.m. Monday.