All things considered, Debby Eckland’s former home was really quite cozy.
She built it herself five weeks ago, a complex series of twisting and curling branches and twigs, woven into a circular pattern and hidden from view behind the Friendly Kitchen on Commercial Street. It’s where she slept during that nor’easter a few weeks ago.
But Eckland’s tent and sleeping bag are gone, tucked away in a friend’s truck. She left her home several days ago, chased away by an angry resident at the same time news spread that police would soon arrive to break up this homeless community.
“I don’t want any police,” Eckland told me this week, holding a cup of coffee after showing me her former residence. “I don’t want any trouble. I understand why they’re doing it, but when everything got wet, I stood here and thought, ‘Why?’ ”
The answer is straightforward: Camping is not allowed on state property. Nor is it allowed on private property without the owner’s permission. And, as you know by now, there’s a sizable community of people in the city with nowhere else to go.
Meanwhile, Concord has no idea what to do about an issue that Greg Ferry, the state police field area commander, told me was a “complex issue. It’s multilayered.”
And never-ending.
In the latest news, the Department of Transportation is scheduled to post a notice Friday at the Friendly Kitchen, warning the homeless that camping is not allowed on state property. May 3 is the date set for enforcement.
If personal items are along the railroad tracks under the Route 393 overpass, which is owned by the Department of Transportation, or on private property back in the woods beyond the parking lot, where Eckland lived, it will be taken away. And if anyone is still there on that date, arrest is possible.
Also, the Concord Police Department is nearing the start of its annual warm-weather bike rides through hard-to-reach areas. That may or may not begin this weekend, Lt. Sean Ford told me.
None of this is good news for people like Larz Menard. He’s 19 and homeless. He attended Pembroke Academy. He camps over by Hall Street and isn’t sure how his neighborhood fits into all of this.
“I don’t think it’s right,” Menard told me near the Friendly Kitchen. “We hardly have anywhere to go anyway and now they’re telling us we can’t be on city or railroad property. That’s this entire city.”
The homeless community was uneasy all day Wednesday, after Andy Labrie, the outreach coordinator for the Community Action Program, delivered a message that time was running short.
Complaints about trash, noise, fighting, fires and trespassing were mounting. Change was on the way.
That scared homeless people, while forcing state and local police and the DOT to become image-conscious, because no one wants to look like a heartless monster when it comes to enforcing no-trespassing laws on the homeless.
“Cops are not going to be jumping out of planes and parachuting into these camps,” Ford deadpanned.
Ford said Concord police are caught in a public-relations bind, telling me his department must balance enforcing the law with compassion for the less fortunate.
“The police are caught in a no-win situation,” Ford said. “It’s going to require more than just the police coming up with a solution. We’re just trying to maintain order, and we go check on their welfare no different than walking into a neighborhood.”
He also stressed that it’s routine for Concord police to annually check on these illegal campsites by bike, starting in the spring. He said police may patrol those areas this weekend, depending on staffing, weather and incoming calls, but nothing had been planned by Thursday.
“It will be the next week or two,” Ford said. “We just don’t know.”
State police also are concerned that the public will view them as the bad guys, with Ferry saying that the troopers have no choice but to respect the DOT’s request to keep its land near the railroad tracks clear.
“It’s not our intention to harass,” Ferry said. “We react to complaints, people on property, items stolen from property. We then respond to those complaints.”
Meanwhile, the DOT also doesn’t want its image tarnished.
“It’s not storm troopers coming. We respond to complaints. It’s a society problem, and no one has answers,” DOT spokesman Bill Boynton said.
But the bottom line is this: The authorities want homeless people off public and private land, and while police may be kind while enforcing the law, they know full well that those who are moved will simply settle in another place that is likely off-limits as well.
A homeless woman named Sarah, who declined to give her last name, swiped her phone and cited examples in Tacoma, Wash., and Albuquerque, N.M., where tent cities are subsidized and people are paid to clean up the grounds.
“Put panhandlers to work for the city to pick up the trash,” Sarah said. “It’s a pet project that would work for people like Debby. She’s tough as nails and she struggles.”
Eckland is a Texas native with a Texas drawl. She cleaned up trash throughout our conversation, something she says she does all the time to “pay it forward.”
She’s 57 and looks tired, her eyes worn from crying, her voice deep from menthol cigarettes.
As we spoke, the man who says he owned the land where Eckland built her home appeared on the edge of a steep, thickly wooded hill. He had yelled at Eckland a few days ago, she said, telling her she was trespassing.
This time he was calmer when I told him what we were doing. He declined to give his name, then disappeared over the ridge.
“I’ll be on the streets now,” Eckland said. “Nowhere to go. I felt safe here.”
(Ray Duckler can be reached at 369-3304, rduckler@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @rayduckler.)