The City of Lawrence shut down the unsanctioned encampment of homeless people behind the Lawrence Amtrak Station on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

Francesca Onofrio | @francescaonofrio.news

The camp shutting down left its residents with limited options. The City urged residents to relocate to the Lawrence Community Shelter, but many chose instead to move to another unsanctioned camp. 

The new encampment, known to the community as “the hole,” is adjacent to an industrial district in East Lawrence.

The action is part of the Homeless Solution Division’s (HSD) new policy, approved just a few months ago. This is the second such sweep in the past year, the first in March.

According to the HSD, the program aims to end chronic homelessness through their five-year plan, currently in its second year.

The plan has helped 61 people so far, with a goal of helping 166 by the end of the year.  

The City has spent nearly $2.5 million on the five-year plan, with an additional ten-year sales tax proposed. The proposed increase would add the a penny for every ten dollars spent, and is estimated to raise an extra million dollars for the program.