‘You can’t get rid of us,’ Unhoused in Peoria wanting answers and solutions from the city

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — As winter looms, unhoused individuals are not only feeling the cold, but also left behind.

"It's rough, they're scared," said Aaron Slaughter an outreach worker for Jolt Harm Reduction. "They have no place to go. They don't have hardly no one to turn to."

Some central Illinois municipalities like Morton and Pekin have made it illegal to live outside.

Slaughter shared an idea of a solution, where everyone could work together.

"We need a transitional encampment," he said. "We need a designated place for everybody where we can bridge all the networks together."

With the Dream Center reaching a record number of people served over the summer, the issue of housing people hasn't gone away.

"I think that there is this myth that people can just go to a shelter," said Kshe Bernard co-founder of Lula, and program director of outreach services for JOLT Harm Reduction. "Every single shelter in the area right now is over capacity."

Bernard said what she hopes Peoria officials consider when deciding unhoused legislation.

"These are residents of Peoria," she said. "Just because they don't have a home does not mean they are not residents. They should be seen and cared for as residents and supported, not stigmatized, not swept under the rug, and certainly not criminalized or punished."

John Kittinger, who lives in an encampment in Peoria, expressed his want for solutions, and better opportunities for those who are unhoused.

"More so the city is, to me, playing games with the homeless," he said. "You talk about Peoria [being] great. You can't be great without dealing with the situations that are at hand."

Slaughter said that with Pekin recently passing a law making unhoused camping illegal, some people from there have moved to Peoria's encampments.

He also said those who have moved to Peoria's encampments are worried they will be kicked out, just as they were in Pekin.