'There’s nowhere for them to go'; Burien sweeps 2nd homeless encampment in a week
BURIEN, Wash. - For the second time in less than a week, the City of Burien is forcing people out of their homeless encampment.
Last week FOX 13 News covered the controversial sweep of an encampment that grew for weeks in downtown Burien.
This week, about a dozen homeless people were forced out of an encampment at Dottie Harper Park.
The park is about half a mile away from the downtown encampment. FOX 13 News spoke to people staying at the park who said they came from location.
"There’s nowhere for them to go," said Stephanie Tidholm, a social worker with REACH.
Tuesday, she offered help to the people being swept out of the park.
She says nobody wants these people camping here, including the people who call the tents home.
"Everybody wants the same thing. Everybody wants them off the street. We need a resolution. Instead of fighting back and forth about what that looks like, or how it looks, or where we’re at now, we need a resolution," she said.
This is the second sweep in just a few days.
FOX 13 News asked the City of Burien what its long-term plan for dealing with these unhoused people is.
City of Burien communications manager, Emily Inlow-Hood, responded with this statement:
Officials with King County tell FOX 13 News they offered the City of Burien $1 million in funding as well as the use of some of the county’s pallet shelters to address the homeless issue. However, county officials say they never got an answer from the city.
Inlow-Hood said Burien never got a written offer from the county.
RELATED: Burien prepares to sweep homeless encampment downtown
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A Burien official told FOX 13 News there are about 100 people who are homeless in the city.