KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Close to 90 people turned out to a meeting in South Knoxville addressing concerns about homelessness in the area Wednesday night.
The meeting became contentious at points as people directed questions toward a panel of community leaders that deal with homelessness.
Several questions concerned the day space, an area under the I-40 overpass on North Broadway near downtown. The City of Knoxville made the space last year as a place to better connect the homeless with a variety of services and give them a place to congregate off the busy street during the day, and forbids them from camping out there at night.
Some people in the South Knoxville community of Vestal believe homelessness is increasing in their area, and they believe the day space could have something to do with it.
"In the past several months, the homeless situation has really increased in South Knoxville," said Regis Borsari, who has lived on Avenue A in South Knoxville for 13 years. "We’ve always had a contingent of homeless people living in our wooded areas and walking the streets, but it really has doubled or tripled."
Knoxville Police Officer Thomas Clinton, the Knoxville Police Department's homeless outreach liaison, said he hasn't seen the same people who lived under the overpass in South Knoxville.
Borsari wasn't able to attend the meeting but believes the day space is the reason she is seeing more homelessness in her community.
"Definitely because the facilities are not available under the bridge," Borsari said.
Other Vestal residents couldn't say if there is more homelessness, but say it's at least been more visible.
Carolyn Cline lives on Blount Avenue and says she sees homeless people on her street several times a week.
"They'll show up in the road, or in the driveway, with a buggy," Cline said.
Neither the community nor the city have data to know for sure if homelessness is increasing in any specific neighborhoods after the day space opened.
"We’ve always had concerns and we’ve always found folks who are experiencing homelessness throughout the county, and certainly in South Knoxville, and so we tend to try to address those things as we see them with social workers, and police if need be," said Michael Dunthorn, the homeless program coordinator for the City of Knoxville.
According the latest Knoxville homeless study, nearly 9,000 people reported homelessness in 2017, which is a five percent decrease to the number reported in 2016. Dunthorn said in the meeting that data shows the number of people experiencing homelessness has decreased in Knoxville over the years.
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At the meeting, Dunthorn stressed that homelessness is complicated and Knoxville is not unlike other cities that deal with the same issue.
The city says it typically sees about 35 to 40 people in the day space total throughout the day.
Misty Goodwin is the senior manager of case services at the Knoxville-Knox County CAC and the leader of the South Knox Renew Our Neighborhoods group. The group started last year and provides outreach to meet the needs of low income communities and people affected by issues like poverty, crime and substance abuse.
She said this meeting was about hearing people's concerns.
"We may not have all the answers, but tonight is about knowing what the problems are, what the residents’ concerns are and what the CAC, and the homeless network, and what all the agencies out there working can do," Goodwin said.
The city said it's working to bring more affordable housing to the area and connect people experiencing homelessness with the services they need.
People who want to report something can call police or 311.