London city hall is clearing homeless people from this park. Where will they go?

Gary Desjardins and Tascha Ackert have until April 27 to leave the encampment they've called home since the fall. If they don't, city workers will dismantle their tent and throw out their possessions – again. 

You can go anywhere, as long as you're not seen or heard.- Gary Desjardins

"It gets nasty," Ackert said. "Gary lost a winter coat that had his ID in it last time. Everyone who lives around here, as far as we know, they have no problems with us being here."

"Why can't they just leave it be?" 

As the pandemic fades and spring returns to the city, so does the push by city hall to remove the city's 150 or so homeless people who sleeping rough on the community's fringes, which include abandoned buildings, flood plains and public parks.

'A never ending cycle of cat and mouse'

Each day, the encampment is visited by outreach workers. They deliver food and information, on how to get an apartment, as well as accessing shelter, mental health support and drug counselling services. It's part of a broader effort by the city to push homeless people out of the city's unused green spaces and urban alcoves and into shelters or supportive housing. 

Craig Cooper, the city's director of housing and support services, said the encampment in Thames Park has been on the city's radar for a while. 

"Given where we're at with the spring season and that area being a flood plain and nearby construction with the bridge, we're working with those folks to find a different outcome for them." 

Except, Desjardins and Ackert while they don't want to be homeless, the forced eviction isn't helping their situation. It simply forces them to find a new outdoor sleeping spot, something they're used to. 

"It's a never ending cycle of cat and mouse," Desjardins said. "You can go anywhere, as long as you're not seen or heard. They really don't like us going near playgrounds."

Homelessness a 'full-time job'

Cooper said the city tries to connect people living rough with options, but acknowledges people don't always take them.

"I think them moving to another outdoor spot is a choice they're making. I know it's tough for couples, I know it's tough for people who have pets, but there are options." 

Cooper said those options include shelters, such as Unity Project, which takes couples when there is space. Other shelters have started taking pets, which are increasingly being recognized as a vital emotional support for people living on the fringes of society. 

The problem is that shelter space for couples and people with pets is in limited supply

Desjardins and Ackert want a place to call their own, but the problem is affording one. With one of the lowest citywide vacancy rates in years, the city's average rent is around $1,200 a month, something out of reach when the couple's best income is Desjardins' job as a part-time kitchen hand. 

"We can find an apartment, but it's a full-time job to be homeless," he said. "It's a 10 to 15 minute walk just to use the facilities. It sucks."