Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
LOWELL, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A church in Lowell has been dealing with a difficult situation regarding trash on their front lawn.
Eliot Presbyterian Church staff said that the trash was coming from homeless residents that had been camping on the lawn overnight for the past 4 years.
“If you drive by at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning, it looks terrible,” said executive director of the church Joyce Hughes.
Hughes said that they appealed a $300 they received because of the trash, as they always clean up the garbage and ask the campers to leave once they get there at 9 every morning.
From 6pm to 9am, however, they don’t have much control over what happens.
Hughes said that they have been in talks with the city to put up a fence to prevent camping, but beyond that, there is not much they are able to do.
Further adding to the complicated situation was Lowell’s new bylaw that banned public camping.
The church supported the bylaw in hopes that these homeless people would be moved to housing quicker.
As director of operations Charles Ott explained, however, without ideal housing open, there isn’t anywhere for these people to go.
“Where can these people go? If you answer that, you have a solution that gets them somewhere,” Charles said. “Right now the current shelter system does not have the capacity for the number of people needing shelter and the condition of the shelter here in Lowell is less desirable and some people won’t go there for that reason, so it’s tough.”
“These are people and they need to be helped,” Joyce said. “You can’t just throw them away like they were a garbage bag.”
Hughes felt that funding for more housing for these people could fix some of these issues
The fine has also added further monetary strain onto the church, as Hughes and Ott discussed how the church had already been losing money outside of the situation and they have had to make cuts to their staff.
A church parishioner started a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay off the fine and keep their doors open, and it has already raised $3,140.
The church has a day center to give food and drinks to those who need it, but they feel that beyond this, the best that can be done to solve this issue to fund low-income housing.
Lowell city officials say they've talked to leadership at the church and WBZ NewsRadio is waiting for further details.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.