The tents at Camp Alpha off of 16th Avenue and Hatcher in Phoenix have slowly begun to come down after the owner of the vacant corner lot asked the group to leave by Thursday. The request came after the City of Phoenix informed Dan Kaplan that the camp was violating two city ordinances.
"(The city) has never issued me a notice of violation and I asked them not to," Kaplan said. "We'll work with them."
Kaplan was informed of the violations on Monday and said the city agreed to allow Camp Alpha, a group providing support services to homeless veterans, a few more days to vacate as long as they continue to show adequate progress that they're moving out. Initially, Kaplan, who is a veteran, allowed the group to use his land for 14 days, but he said it turned into six weeks and he was on the verge of also asking the group to leave.
"I could not allow them more time because they have no kind of official entity and I have no way to give liability insurance," Kaplan said.
Bags of belongings and stored supplies were piled into a pickup truck and City of Phoenix employees worked with residents to line up shelter and support services so no one winds up on the streets.
"One of them has been taken to housing and the others are in various processes of finding ID and all that stuff," said Riann Balch with the City of Phoenix.
According to the City of Phoenix, this is not the first time they have contacted the group regarding violations with their operations. Conversations earlier in the week were divisive, but all three parties involved reiterated that the tone has shifted all three have applauded each other in working out this solution.
It's not the desired outcome for some who called Camp Alpha home, but the organization is continuing to work to secure their 501(C)(3) and is determined to continue their work helping the homeless veterans community.
"These people have become family to us and we care about them and they care about us," said Erik Sprague, a homeless veteran who has lived at Camp Alpha since Thanksgiving. "And (the city) is making us pack up and move. We're not quitting, just looking for a different location."
