This Winter, Stop the Sweeps!

Demolishing homes, lives, hope, and progress in the dead of winter

This Holiday season, we’re going to talk about encampments, sweeps, and especially how they collide in the Winter.

In solidarity with those experiencing this terror firsthand, I will donate all of December’s Paid Subscriber earnings to the Sanctuary Supply Depot in Minneapolis, which provides direct aid and life-saving supplies to encampments.

If you’ve been thinking about becoming a Paid subscriber, now is a great time to start!

All I want for Christmas is Services, Not Sweeps.

If you’re not familiar, the term “sweeps” refers to the closing of encampments, accompanied by the presence of police and sanitation to cite people, throw away their belongings, and remind them of their powerlessness. At a recent conference, a speaker insisted that we should begin to refer to them as “raids” rather than sweeps, and I’m inclined to agree.

I became especially radicalized against these raids after moving to Minneapolis, where they have been especially relentless, and where the risk of death is especially harrowing in the winter. While over-filled shelters turn people away, the raids continue, denying unhoused people the ability to hunker down, store up the necessary blankets, tents, and tarps to stay warm, and to stay together for safety.

Last winter was devastating, and this year they appear to be repeating course.

After chasing people from camp to camp all year, many residents formed and joined a camp called Nenokaasi. Known locally as a “healing camp”, housed indigenous neighbors run the encampment in an attempt to provide community support and advocacy. The camp has stood for over three months with hundreds of residents, and has successfully reversed overdoses and coordinated meals and donations. Perhaps even to a fault, this camp has worked to be as low-impact as possible on the surrounding community and handle issues internally.

The City will be “closing” this camp in a week and a half. The weather forecast for that day is 39 degrees with a 10mph wind.

Camp Nenookaasi in South Minneapolis

But it isn’t just Minneapolis or Los Angeles. Encampment raids have become the de facto policy for every major city, despite the weather, despite the housing crisis, despite shelters being full, and despite being recently condemned by a United Nations report which decried sweeps as violating basic human rights.

Portland, OR, where the weather regularly dips below freezing in December and January, attempted just last week to pass a resolution asking for a pause in sweeps for the Winter. It was roundly rejected by Portland’s City Council with a 6-3 vote.

The danger of these raids can not be overstated. In the last few years, many public health studies have been conducted and show an increased risk of mortality for people experiencing homelessness after sweeps. Unhoused people already have a devastatingly low life expectancy as compared to the general population, and chasing them around the city and throwing away their belongings only causes further disaster, while accomplishing nothing but cruelty.

Encampment raids cause communities to scatter and unhoused people to become even more isolated, resulting in:

• moving from safe camping spots (public parks, empty lots) to less safe spots (alleyways, river-beds, traffic medians)

• less access to community services and resources

• loss of contact with case managers, outreach workers, and other life-saving connections

• loss or setback in progress toward goals, including recovery, medical treatment, or even housing

• increased likelihood of overdose

• mental and physical health deterioration

• further resentment and distrust in government, law enforcement, and services in general

There is no good argument for encampment raids, period. And yet, they persist in conservative and liberal cities and states alike. They won’t stop until the housed community joins with the unhoused community and demands it.

This Winter, let’s demand it.