The final remnants of a large homeless encampment on East 12th Street in Oakland are being removed and most of the former residents have accepted spots at the city’s newest transitional housing facility, city officials announced Friday.
Crews from the city began clearing the long-time encampment on East 12th Street between 14th and 19th avenues on May 12.
On Friday, city officials said the last of the 79 or so residents have moved on — 70 of them to the Mandela House, a converted extended-stay hotel at 3650 Mandela Parkway.
Also, six of the former 12th Street residents were placed in what city officials called a “medical respite care program,” which provides shelter, food and medical care for homeless people recovering from an illness.
“Oakland leads this work with compassion and respect for our unhoused community, and we are grateful that so many of the residents of this encampment have taken advantage of this opportunity,” Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said in a news release.
Over the next few weeks, crews will be removing trash that has piled up on side streets, and also will be putting up signs and installing barriers to discourage anyone from trying to take up residence in the same area again.
City officials said that over the past year or so, a combination of city, county and state agencies have conducted outreach efforts at the encampment in coordination with Oakland’s Encampment Management Team.
As part of the cleanup effort, crews removed about 420 tons of debris along with roughly 33 abandoned and inoperable vehicles.
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