Homeless encampment removed in Sandwich Town

There’s been some progress at the site of a homeless encampment in Sandwich Town.

Sandwich Town resident Jason Roadie is glad he spoke up about a homeless encampment a few blocks from his house.

“They’ve cleaned a way to get to it I guess and that’s a start,” says Roadie.

The people who sent up camp there have moved out and city crews cleaned up some of the area near Mill Street and Peter Street on Wednesday.Sandwich Town resident Jason Roadie points out the clean up that has started at a former homeless encampment site in Windsor, Ont., on Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Melanie Borrelli/CTV News Windsor)

“They were here all day yesterday with chainsaws, this is mostly what they cleaned out,” says Roadie

He says the encampment had been there for about three months and was causing issues in the neighbourhood with thefts and safety concerns.

“Just people walking around just taking stuff out of our yards and stuff. It's from our cars to our yards,” says Roadie.

Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante says there isn’t an overnight fix and a process has to be followed.

“The city has come in and cleaned up all of the paraphernalia and some of the overgrowth. As a phase one cleanup, there's still more cleanup to be done as is visible by the site, but that will happen in the coming or in the near future,” says Costante.Cleanup has started at a former homeless encampment site in Windsor, Ont., on Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Melanie Borrelli/CTV News Windsor)

He says Social Services, the parks department, the outreach team, Windsor police and local businesses have been working together on the issue for a while.

“Although you know, this resolves that a short run issue, let's say that has impacted the surrounding area. Long term we need to really address the issue of homelessness, mental health and addiction,” he says.

He says he welcomes input from residents and community partners to reach the long-term goal.

“Ensuring that everyone's sharing information and is active on this is important but the eventual goal of long term goal is getting these people housing with support and if that means an introduction to emergency shelters then that's what needs to happen but getting them there is oftentimes the very difficult challenge,” adds Costante.A homeless encampment in the Sandwich Town neighbourhood of Windsor, Ont. on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)

Roadie says he’ll be staying on top of the progress in his neighbourhood.

“Phase 1, I can't wait to see Phase 3. Maybe they'll clean the rest of it up like they’re supposed to,” says Roadie.