A local homeless advocacy group has opened up its fourth encampment in Berkeley to protest the city’s increasing encampment sweeps and evictions.
The Daily Californian reported the nonprofit organization, Where Do We Go, opened up the fourth encampment in Berkeley’s Ohlone Park last week.
Last month, the group erected its first encampment outside Berkeley City Hall. Even after police expanded a fenced area of Martin Luther King Civic Center Park, several unhoused people joined the encampment, according to Andrea Henson, the executive director and legal counsel for Where Do We Go.
The group subsequently erected two additional encampments about two weeks ago, at Center and Milvia Streets, and at 4th and Bancroft.
Henson told the Daily California: “If there’s not enough shelter and individuals experiencing homelessness don’t want to be arrested or spited, where do they go?”
She said the Ohlone Park encampment has been the target of criticism, including a letter to the city council from The Friends of Ohlone Park.
The site, once dubbed “People’s Park Annex,” was occupied by demonstrators in 1969 to protest the displacement of people and the closure of public places.
Henson said the group plans to attend a meeting tonight at the Berkeley City Council to discuss what will happen to encampments at Harrison and Second streets, as well as the city’s timeline for clearing encampments.
