150 forced to evacuate Gastonia homeless encampment

GASTONIA, N.C. — About 150 people are out of Gastonia’s largest homeless encampment after trash and crime near the site raised concerns among city leaders.

The operator told Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon he thought the city would eventually shut him down, so he acted first.

Most of the people living at the camp on North Oakland Street got the evacuation order last week.

Pastor Moses Colbert has allowed people to sleep around his church on North Oakland Street for two years.

The city of Gastonia was already suing his ministry over trash on the property.

Colbert said he learned the city planned to ask a judge to evacuate the encampment.

“It’s heartbreaking because I got to deal with all these folks trying, telling me, ‘What did I do wrong?’ They did nothing wrong,” Colbert said.

LaDay Seber has been homeless for 20 years and lived there until Monday.

“You had people die here,” Seber said.

He said people have overdosed in this camp and someone was killed.

I think this was a blessing,” Seber said about the evacuation.

Seber met with operators of a drug treatment group, which is offering temporary housing.

Several groups are helping evacuees, and officials said they are stunned at the number of people who need assistance.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Shelia Toler, a peer support specialist.

“It’s just a sad day,” said Sherri Dobbins, who experiences homelessness.

Dobins said she became homeless because of relationship issues and health problems.

“You have sleep here and sleep there. And here, we had a place to come home to every night,” she said.

Some people have been sleeping on mattresses in tents and others on pallets.

“(We are) scared just because we have to leave the comfort of what we all knew,” Dobins said.

Lemon spoke with one of the pastors of the church who said the next step is to clean up, which could take several weeks.

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