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Officials move dozens of people from Kensington heroin encampments

Published  May 30, 2018 5:27pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

KENSINGTON (WTXF) - Police are clearing out heroin encampments at the underpass located at Lehigh and Kensington.

Officials relocated the encampments and all of the people under the overpass located at Lehigh and Kensington Wednesday.

Dozens of people have set up tents as shelter, acquired old mattresses and set up makeshift bedrooms. Wednesday, all of those tents will be gone. Civil affairs will be at the scene attempting to help maneuver the people to different locations and get some into shelters or other places where they can be safe.

Streets have become homes and hotels as housing continues to be an issue for people who struggle with addiction, drug use, and mental health issues.

MORE: Conrail clean-up pushes addicts to new areas

Healthcare is also a large issue in this movement. Some members of the community are concerned that the city is not dealing with the opioid epidemic or managing the growing population of homeless people and simply moving the issue from one section of the city to another.

One group says the success of tackling the problem is a combination of housing and healthcare but housing must come first. They say once housing becomes stable then the issues become easier to treat.

The local residents of Kensington are hoping for relief so the needles can stop ending up at their doorstep. They have been begging and pleading with city leaders to 'fix the problem' but these are human beings that need real programs that can actually help.