The city of Springfield plans to move unhoused people from an encampment at Snyder Park on Monday, May 5, citing health and public safety concerns.
City officials and community groups gave notice to about 10 individuals residing at the park on April 4. They offered information on other housing options in the community, such as Sheltered Inc.'s shelters, Norm’s Place and Hartley House.
Springfield Community Development Director Logan Cobbs said they’ll have case workers and clinicians on site Monday to ensure a smooth transition.
“Our primary focus was and continues to be to ensure that individuals are given the opportunity to transition to a shelter if they wish to do so, and to make sure that that transition is done with dignity and care,” Cobbs said.
The encampment has been developing over the past few months, Cobbs said, and are a health and safety concern.
“A lack of toilets, a lack of showers, without access to proper sanitation facilities, human waste can't be disposed of properly," Cobbs said. "There’s also trash accumulation, so inadequate trash removal can lead to unsanitary conditions, foul odors, just a wide environmental concern there … as well a lack of security for those at the parks and also those living in the encampments (can) really lead to some vulnerable situations where they are in a higher risk of exploitation.”
Springfield’s 2024 Point in Time count from January last year estimated 204 sheltered and 20 unsheltered individuals in the city. A preliminary count from January 2025 identified 97 sheltered and 10 unsheltered people.
Neal Browning, executive director for Sheltered Inc., sais the city’s doing what it can, but he also recognizes it can disturb what people have built there.
“It's kind of a thin line between doing what is appropriate but also knowing the optics may not look like that, so I think they've handled that pretty well,” Browning said. “We're coming to help but we know we're also upsetting a way of life that (people) have been getting accustomed to.”
Over the past six months, the city’s contributed over $1.5 million in affordable housing, homelessness initiatives, and then homelessness prevention in an effort to mitigate homelessness, Cobbs said. That includes a $300,000 grant to Sheltered Inc. in March.
“The city remains committed to dialogue with our community, listening to the needs of those effectively and really being transparent about our progress. Progress here both in Snyder Park, but really just across the organization and community as we work toward tangible solutions,” Cobbs said. "Addressing homelessness is really going to require a collaborative approach from local governments to nonprofits to service providers and the community.”
Browning said so far, they’ve had call inquiries, but haven't seen any individuals from the camp come to either of their facilities. But many local community organizations have stepped up to help them as people from the encampment come.
“We've got our staff, we (have) our case managers so either way if we get a plethora of people we're ready to go and serve them,” Browning said.
Cleaning up the park will take up to two months, Cobbs said.
