Evicted residents of Regina encampment figuring out next steps

Freezing rain fell on people as they rummaged through their soaked belongings. They had four hours to get everything out, watched over by a dozen police officers. On Tuesday, fire officials closed the encampment at Pepsi Park, where more than a hundred people had lived in tents and shelters. There'd been some serious fires in the park recently. One person was hospitalized with burns. What about all the house fires that are in Hood? East End, South End, West End, everywhere, all over the city. You don't see the city shutting them down. shutting them, those neighbourhoods down, do you? So why us? We're just another community. Some people came back to pack up their tarps, blankets and clothes, stuffing them into laundry baskets or reusable shopping bags. Leslie Millman says he has nowhere to go, so he left everything behind. We need homes. Everybody here needs somewhere to stay, like a shelter or something like that. Because there's so many people, you see them all? So many people that are homeless. The park is now completely fenced off. Almost nobody was allowed in, only people who'd been living there and a handful of volunteers that were there to help. The provincial government knows there's a housing crisis and a homelessness crisis in this province and there's just nothing being done. Anyone returning to the park was met by a member of the city's emergency encampment team. They handed out snacks and offered help finding someplace to go. People who work in crisis support say shelters are always full and not open to anyone using alcohol or drugs. They might not quite be ready for mainstream housing, but, you know, let's look at offering something that might accept them as they are. Social Services says it's connecting people from the encampment to mental health and addiction services and trying to get them into shelters and hotels. But people told us they don't know where they're going to end up. One man said he spent last night sleeping in his car. Colleen Silverthorne, CBC News, Regina.