Engagement with social justice issues is one of the things I most appreciate about the culture of Saint Anselm. For this reason I believe it is important that we as Anselmians take notice of human rights issues just a few minutes away from campus. One such issue that I recently became aware of was the planned eviction of a homeless encampment of up to 50 people in downtown Manchester. 

What the city of Manchester fails to address by taking such action is the fact that every person camping on the streets during one of the coldest months of the year has underlying basic human needs that will not be met by eviction. To ignore this reality leads to deeply inhumane treatment of some of society’s most vulnerable.  

For those familiar with the city, this particular encampment is on the corner of Pine and Manchester Sts., an area with high rates of homelessness and drug addiction. On Jan. 8th, the city of Manchester issued a notice ordering everyone in the encampment – approximately 50 people – to vacate by the 17th. The ACLU of New Hampshire and New Hampshire Legal Assistance filed a lawsuit to stop the planned eviction.

Their suit was denied and the following claims were made by the court: given that there is enough available shelter in Manchester for the population in need, the safety risks posed by the encampment made the eviction necessary. Legally, the city can enforce prohibitions on camping in public places as long as there are alternative options for overnight shelter.    

Contrary to the court’s statement, adequate and sustainable 24/7 shelter for those in need does not exist in the city of Manchester. This was extensively documented in a Jan. 12th email (available through the ACLU’s website for anyone seeking more information) sent by the ACLU and other advocates to the city of Manchester. The ACLU’s legal case listed shelter options – Cashin Senior Activity Center, Families in Transition Adult Emergency Shelter, 1269 Cafe – and detailed how the above are not sufficient. 

There are not enough beds and between the three locations only 21 out of 24 hours of warm shelter are provided every day. The Cashin Senior Activity Center, for example, functions as a temporary warming shelter from 7 pm to 6 am, putting people back outdoors during what can be the coldest time of day.   

The public safety risks cited by the city are absolutely not to be dismissed. These safety issues include fires built outside for warmth and calls to the Manchester police for assault or drug usage, as well as at least one death and multiple overdoses occurring at the encampment. The health and safety of the community surrounding the encampment is important, but so is the health and safety of the people in the encampment.  

Eviction is not a solution to the “issue” of homelessness. The issue is not and never has been the unhoused people themselves. The issues are mental illness, addiction (often a symptom of mental health crisis in a community), and poverty. Manchester has high rates of drug addiction and concerningly few resources for mental health support. If none of the underlying issues will be resolved by such an injunction, as it is clear they will not, it is exponentially more inhumane and more unethical to force people to vacate during one of the coldest months of the year.  

Frankly, drug overdoses (as just one example) occur across the city of Manchester. Eviction will simply force an individual to move themselves and their addiction elsewhere in the city while disregarding their unmet healthcare needs.  

Yet that is what the city of Manchester is doing. The court order (also available online) states that the city does acknowledge their responsibility to improve current overnight shelter offerings, but also makes the inaccurate claim that the offerings are currently adequate.

The public safety concerns raised by an encampment of 50 unhoused people are not a problem, they are a symptom of a problem. The costs of a short-term solution to an underlying long-term issue are felt by the most socially vulnerable group in the situation.

The city of Manchester has a responsibility to either address the underlying factors that put people in a position to camp out on the streets, or they need to simply accommodate encampments by taking action that does not involve eviction. My great-grandmother had an injunction of her own for situations such as these. To quote her uncensored wisdom: “Piss or get off the pot!”