A former resident of an east Springfield homeless camp asks what comes next

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - A former resident of a cleared-out homeless camp in east Springfield asks what is next.

Lurvey Properties began cleaning up the homeless camp spread over 15 acres near East Kearney Street on June 26. According to Lurvey Properties employees, the camp has been around for decades, who added it posed a dangerous environment for those living and working in the area.

“We have nowhere else to go,” said a former resident. “There’s no more camps left. They’ve all been shut down and bulldozed and flattened. There’s really no help or support for us out here. Springfield is just done and tired of the homeless,” he said, adding, “I’m definitely a second-class citizen. Like, there’s no other way around it. It’s not feeling that way. It’s we know we’re that way.”

The Community Partnership of the Ozarks says it communicated with the camp’s residents and police in the days leading up to the clearing. The nonprofit attempted to prepare those who lived there for what was to come.

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