City workers dismantle campsite used by homeless

 

By GREG SMITH

Reach Greg Smith at 425-4219 or gasmith@norwichbulletin.com

Originally published November 8, 2005

 

 

NORWICH-- Personal belongings that had been accumulated for years in the woods of Norwich lay in a pile Monday. A spray-painted sign propped up against the

debris read, "Moving sale, everything must go."

 

Three days after a homeless man was found dead off Forest Street in a makeshift riverside campsite, city workers dismantled the homes of an unknown number of people.

 

None of the inhabitants of the so-called "tent city" were there Monday.

The body of James "Back Pack Jim," Croushore was found Friday at his cabin on the Yantic River.

 

The cause of death is undetermined "pending further study," according a spokesman at the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. Police did not consider it suspicious.

 

 

Croushore's death has highlighted a problem in the city and has caused concern among some because the city's move to dismantle the site comes so close to winter.

 

Under a directive from Norwich police, a fleet of public works employees rolled into the area to remove the remains of three wooden shelters and piles of personal belongings.

 

Norwich Police Lt. Timothy Menard said living so close to the railroad tracks posed a risk and was illegal. Most of the people who were living in the area were known to city officers and in the past have declined help finding a home.

But Leta Miller of Norwich, who has been homeless and now volunteers with the homeless, said getting help is not as easy as just asking or accepting

.

"There are too many excuses why people don't fit the criteria," she said. "Jim was home. He was one of the people that didn't want to go back into society. Others want to get off the street but can't. They make it practically impossible." Among other things, more money needs to be dedicated to creating a permanent solution, Miller said.

 

Reliance House Program Administrator Carrie Dyer agreed and said many times homeless shun the assistance because of the

number of requirements and paperwork. "Sometimes it just takes trust, someone to engage them," Dyer said. She said it was

unfortunate it took a death to draw publicity to the plight of homeless. There is a great need for supportive housing, year-round shelter and housing programs locally that connect people with resources, she said.

 

Croushore was a regular at the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen, where many come for free daily meals and company. Croushore played cards, chatted and considered it his job to lighten everyone's situation with a joke, soup kitchen executive director Sister Maryanne Guertin said. "He always had something nice to say. He called me Irish," she said.

 

Guertin, who estimates there are 80 homeless people in the city, said she knows and cares for many of the people who were living with Croushore. Monday's action by the city has made the homeless nervous, Guertin said. "Right now it's a heartache and concern for people who lived there, in some cases for years," Guertin said.

 

Ronald Horvath, a friend and roommate of Croushore in the makeshift community, said Croushore and others "all worked

together to help get things organized." Horvath said Croushore had been drinking the night before and slept on the ground

outside. He had covered him with a sleeping bag.

 

 

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