COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hundreds of unhoused people are about to get evicted just days before Christmas. The City of Columbus recently announced the new date to evict homeless camps as Dec. 18.

What You Need To Know

  • The City of Columbus announced it will be evicting homeless camps on Dec. 18

  • According to a city spokesperson, they are urging people reach out for help and will give a shelter bed to those who relocate

  • The director of Saint Aloysius Community Outreach said it's only scratching the surface of the problem

  • She and her late husband have been helping for more than two decades

The city’s spokesperson is urging people to reach out for help while they’ll give priority for a shelter bed to whoever relocates.

But Sandy Boneville, director of Saint Aloysius Community Outreach, said that’s just scratching the surface of the problem. A ride with her around Columbus’ neighborhoods serves as a wakeup call.

“There’s so many stereotypes, so many assumptions, so many judgmental things that are false with these folks,” Boneville said. “They’re like we are. I mean here’s the reality of it, at any time it can happen to any one of us.”

She and her late husband have been helping for more than two decades.

She drives around in her SUV loaded up with meals, blankets, jackets and anything she can get her hands on and simply stops on the side of the road and hands things out to people.

While driving she opens her window and yells, "hey how you’re doing today? Are you hungry?"

She started Take it to the Street Ministry because she said she saw a gap.  

“I felt we weren’t really reaching the people that really need it,” Boneville said, “the ones that are really forgotten.”

One of those people is 52-year-old Vicki Hansen.

Hansen has been without a home for about three years, and she said she used to work as an electrician for a very long time.

Hansen said the camps that the city wants to evict them from are there for a reason.

“I lost my job in '19, and then right after that COVID hit,” Hansen said. “It’s like home, you know, it keeps us all together out here...we keep each other safe you know, we watch each other’s back at the camps.”

Outreach specialist of Carmel Mount Ryan Jefferson said the problem isn’t really about the camps.

Over the last five years, he’s seen the homeless population grow more than any other year.

Every time the city moves those camps, he said, they try to help.

“The real problem is housing There’s not enough affordable housing,” Jefferson said. “Folks like us, and other outreach teams go out to those camps more frequently to just offer up any kind of services that we can provide including like shelter.”

One of the people Mount Carmel recently helped is Hansen.

“They came like a few days ago and said ‘hey, we got you guys a home’ and you know it was just, I just broke down in tears,” Hansen said.

Here are some more recourses in Columbus:

In the meantime, Boneville continues her drive.

She once again stopped during this interview and pulled down her window to check on another person.

She asked someone if he needed a hug, and said, "you know it’s going to be alright honey," while she gave him one.

Boneville’s message for this holiday season is to offer a helping hand to the less fortunate.

“This compassion and empathy and helping each other that does lift people up,” Boneville said. “Even if it’s for that one meal...because that makes society better as a whole, when you're helping each other.”

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