Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People (MVCHP) Statement on Bismarck City Ordinance 6587, Prohibited Camping aka “Homeless Encampment Ban”
October 8, 2024
The Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People (MVCHP) believes everyone deserves a place to call home. Homelessness has been increasing across our nation and in our community. A 2024 survey conducted by Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health and supported by additional MVCHP members identified 169 individuals who were homeless and in a shelter provided by one of our partner agencies on a single night. An additional 63 individuals were not sheltered that same night.
As a Coalition serving south-central North Dakota, MVCHP members collaborate to address the needs of the homeless, which range from emergency shelter to permanent housing, plus services that help individuals remain housed, including behavioral health support, meal and food assistance, transportation, employment assistance, life skills training, and more.
MVCHP applauds our city leaders, including the City Commissioners, Mayor, Bismarck Police Department and Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health for seeking solutions to address the challenges associated with homelessness. However, regarding this ordinance, we believe more consultation and collaboration is needed to develop a service-oriented, public-health centered plan that involves city outreach beyond law enforcement.
To our chagrin, our Coalition leadership, which includes Bismarck shelters and service providers, was not consulted during the drafting of this ordinance. Over the past week our board of directors held two special meetings to consult with Bismarck Police Department, Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, and colleagues in Fargo who advised on a similar ordinance. We strongly feel the city needs more time—at minimum a few more weeks, and ideally several months, prior to the spring thaw—to collaboratively develop a plan to address the displacement of individuals. A more inclusive, collaborative process would include consultation with MVCHP partner agencies as well as Public Health, law enforcement, Parks & Recreation, Human Service Centers, business owners, and other relevant parties, who could then collectively bring a more detailed plan back to the City Commission.
In sum, before enacting an encampment ban, MVCHP would like to see resources invested in solutions that ensure individuals know where to access bathrooms, find safe shelter, and learn where to store their belongings. Charging unsheltered individuals with a crime, especially without adequate knowledge of shelter or treatment options, may only compound their personal challenges and further stigmatize their situation. Current providers are often at capacity, so we urge the city to invest in a collaborative process and detail an action plan that will provide wraparound support as a longstanding strategy and solution. Key to this investment includes city public and continued private funding for proactive outreach, and for ensuring and if necessary expanding current services, shelter capacity and resource orientation.
I would encourage each of you to imagine that you suffered a major medical issue that resulted in you losing your job, eventually your home, and you’re already estranged from your extended family. To survive, you are living on the streets, but you do not have access to a bathroom, shower, or place to store your limited personal items; shelters and treatment centers are full and you’re on a waiting list. The police say they will charge you with a crime if you don’t move along. Where would you go?
Don’t we all deserve safety, care, and empathy on the journey to that place we can call home?
Dave Bender, Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People Board of Directors
dave@soupcafe.org | 701.751.7687
Mark Heinert, Co-president, Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People
mheinert@youthworksnd.org | 701.255.6909
Nicole Schurhamer, Co-president, Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People
Nicole@BCHABis.com | 701.255.2540
Member agencies:
This statement was read by Dave Bender, representing the MVCHP Board of Directors, at the Bismarck City Commission public hearing on October 8, 2024. A recording of the public hearing may be viewed here, and a Bismarck Tribune article summarizing the outcome of the meeting is here. The ordinance passed, 4-0.
