# ever encountered a homeless person's encampment ?



## RCO (Apr 9, 2018)

when I was searching around a wooded property outside the city of barrie Ontario last weekend I encountered an odd sight . barrie is either a small city or a large city depending on how you view things , its population is around 140,000 now but I remember when it was much smaller 


I happened to be down that way and wanted to explore a wooded area near the city that I had previously been to last year . its rate beside a major road and seemed to have some potential as being a place bottles might of ended up . 

but I didn't really find anything , other than a semi modern " sobe " bottle although the plastic label had been pealed off so it wasn't any good .  


near the back of the lot , is an odd pile of sand that hides from view the other side of the pile . when I walked up and looked what was behind it was truly disgusting . literally garbage everywhere, propane tanks, old broken bicycles  and several tents ( or what was left of them )  it appeared homeless people had been living there at some point and simply abandoned everything several months ago 


it unfortuently seems like this sort of thing might not be an isolated incident and these sort of encampments are rather common in some major cities . and if you were out exploring areas near a major city looking for bottles you might run into one 


I recall reading an article about how 950 of these camps had been discovered and dismantled in Edmonton Alberta a few years back 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...le-dismantled-this-year-in-edmonton-1.3825147


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## WesternPA-collector (Apr 9, 2018)

I have come across homeless people camping out on a small scale but nothing like that. A few tents in the woods. Most of the time they are empty but look like they are in use. I think people leave in the daytime and come back at night. The garbage imprint they leave in the woods is terrible. Also some of these tents in the woods are just a place people go to "party" or do the things they don't want to be seen doing in public like drinking and drugs. The garbage and things laying around shows what the activity is.


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## RCO (Apr 9, 2018)

WesternPA-collector said:


> I have come across homeless people camping out on a small scale but nothing like that. A few tents in the woods. Most of the time they are empty but look like they are in use. I think people leave in the daytime and come back at night. The garbage imprint they leave in the woods is terrible. Also some of these tents in the woods are just a place people go to "party" or do the things they don't want to be seen doing in public like drinking and drugs. The garbage and things laying around shows what the activity is.




I didn't see any evidence of alcohol or drug use there , no beer cans or drug items , just food garbage , appeared someone was living there at some point


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## CanadianBottles (Apr 12, 2018)

I've definitely come across a lot of them.  Most of the ones I saw in Ottawa were abandoned, I'm guessing the camps were cleared years ago but never cleaned up.  There were still some needles lying around too.  In Hull I once came across a whole tent city that was still very much inhabited, that city has a massive homelessness problem that you wouldn't realize walking around the streets.  I don't remember coming across them in BC, but the results of people going into the woods and partying or illegally dumping were far worse than the results of the homeless camps I see now.


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## RCO (Apr 13, 2018)

CanadianBottles said:


> I've definitely come across a lot of them.  Most of the ones I saw in Ottawa were abandoned, I'm guessing the camps were cleared years ago but never cleaned up.  There were still some needles lying around too.  In Hull I once came across a whole tent city that was still very much inhabited, that city has a massive homelessness problem that you wouldn't realize walking around the streets.  I don't remember coming across them in BC, but the results of people going into the woods and partying or illegally dumping were far worse than the results of the homeless camps I see now.



I would imagine a lot get abandoned for various reasons , even the homeless themselves might realise the site was contaminated and too dirty to clean up and easier to simply build another site somewhere else . 

plus police or local residents find out about the site and complain so they have to keep moving to different sites in order to avoid being noticed


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## CanadianBottles (Apr 13, 2018)

I don't think I've ever seen a site that contaminated, they were a mess but not that much of a mess.  It was mostly collapsed tents and a few possessions scattered around, like someone had lived there and then just never came back.  They were in an area far from any residences so I don't think anyone complained.  I'm not sure why the problem is so much worse in Gatineau than Ottawa.


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## RCO (Apr 13, 2018)

CanadianBottles said:


> I don't think I've ever seen a site that contaminated, they were a mess but not that much of a mess.  It was mostly collapsed tents and a few possessions scattered around, like someone had lived there and then just never came back.  They were in an area far from any residences so I don't think anyone complained.  I'm not sure why the problem is so much worse in Gatineau than Ottawa.



the site I saw last weekend was definitely beyond repair , couldn't see how anyone could ever sleep there again .

as to why there'd be more in some areas than others ? maybe Ottawa is too built up , more opportunity for these sites in Gatineau ? if there were some areas with trees and shelter but not close to homes or businesses 


I've heard about there being one locally , behind a business area in a town of 16,000 but I've never seen it myself and not sure I believe it really exists , perhaps a local rumour or maybe a few people tried to stay there one summer when it was nicer out


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## hemihampton (Apr 15, 2018)

Digging in Detroit or looking through (in & under) old houses & Buildings in Detroit I have seen many homeless people & camps. The guy I usually dig with TOM, calls them hobo hotels when we see a big whirlpool refrigerator box with a doorway or something similar. LEON.


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## Robby Raccoon (Apr 18, 2018)

I have encountered a few individuals/sites where individuals lived. One had what looked like drug paraphernalia, but all the others looked like what I'd expect. Sure, some sites have lots of litter, but some of the homeless live surrounded by what random people have dumped. I wrote about my first encounter with a homeless man, though he was a lone individual. He actually inspired me.
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/201761-heart-of-a-graveyard-an-encounter


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## Canadacan (Apr 25, 2018)

If there is help from food banks, Salvation Army, needle exchange programs and other organizations that's where they seem to go in droves, in our region or the Lower mainland as we call it, they have tent cities in some areas.


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## RIBottleguy (May 1, 2018)

I had one homeless woman fall into one of my holes once.  Granted it was dark out, she was drunk, and I had caved it in so it was shallow.  I met her the next day and she was all irate about it but after talking a little she became less upset and even watched me dig for a while.  Now there are just some guys living in that camp, what bothers me the most is they have a fire going most of the time which is a real hazard, and they got upset at me for digging in their "path", despite the fact the police had kicked them out of their illegal came a couple times.  It really bothers me when they act like they own state property, luckily I never had to call the police though.


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## mikeodigs (Jun 21, 2018)

I came across a homeless camp way way out in the woods on the way to the Hillbilly bottle dump, kind of spooky to see a tent miles from the road/grocery store. in these woods are copperhead snakes, I won't go in there until the winter, I don't see how they live way back there, ticks, snakes, chiggers and swarms of mosquitoes. not for me I would live by the local food store.


mike


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