Evictions looming at 2 Philadelphia homeless encampments

Eviction day is looming for those living in a number of protest encampments across Philadelphia.

Several non-profit groups, including Philly Housing Action, banded together on Sunday to rally for better solutions and more support for the homeless.

Last week, the city posted formal notice, for the third time, requiring the encampments on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Ridge Avenue to close by Wednesday.

Organizers want the city to provide them with a list of viable homes for families, the elderly, and the disabled.

The third notice comes after a federal judge ruled the city can clear the encampment by reasonable means with 72 hours notice to vacate. The judge also denied a motion filed by encampment leaders calling for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the city from closing the camps.

The Parkway encampment has stood on a baseball field on the parkway since June 10 and has grown to an estimated 100 to 150 people.

Mayor Jim Kenney says the city has spent months in good-faith negotiations with the leaders of the encampment.

Kenney shed some light on those negotiations during a briefing and claimed the city has been willing to meet over 20 of the protesters' demands.

City officials say one of the demands requires immediate permanent housing for everyone at the encampment, though encampment leaders have not identified the number of people within the encampment, or how many are indeed homeless. 

The city says their permanent housing options are limited, and they have instead offered pathways to permanent housing that "thousands of other people take advantage of every year."

According to Kenney, the city has received more than 400 complaints about the encampment and claimed living conditions there have worsened over the weeks.