A day after testifying in the Nebraska Legislature, Krissy Gallagher-McMillan and Arielle Nichols packed up their tents and dispersed along with 10 other people from the downtown corner where they had taken shelter through the winter.
Arielle Nichols, 32, and more than a dozen other people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Catholic Church near 17th and Izard Streets on Friday. She and other unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection testified Thursday against a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping. “You make this law here, we’ll be forced to hide, go further and further from our resources,” she said.
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Ramon Nelson, 35, packs his belongings. Many of the people who had been staying at the site were considering going to another spot north of downtown.
Krissy Gallagher-McMillan, 39, sits in the back of a Society of St. Vincent de Paul van as she and more than a dozen other people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. She and several of the other unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping.
Photos: People in downtown tent camp clear out, move to other places in Omaha
Arielle Nichols, 32, and more than a dozen other people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. She and several of the other unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping. "You make this law here, we’ll be forced to hide, go further and further from our resources," Nichols said.
More than a dozen people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. Several of the unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping.
Ramon Nelson, 35, packs his belongings. Many of the people who had been staying at the site were considering going to another spot north of downtown.
Ramon Nelson, 35, and more than a dozen other people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. Several of the unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping.
Krissy Gallagher-McMillan, 39, sits in the back of a Society of St. Vincent de Paul van ass she and more than a dozen other people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. She and several of the other unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping.
Jill Lynch-Sosa, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, helps more than a dozen people clean out their tents and belongings from behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Friday, March 1, 2024. She and several of the unhoused people who had been staying at the intersection for months testified Thursday in opposition of Legislative Bill 1357, a proposed Nebraska state law that would make it a misdemeanor to camp on public property not designated for camping.
Photos: Tent camp in downtown Omaha draws attention to homelessness issue
Amber McCauley, 30, sits in her tent as her half-sister Krissy Gallagher-McMillan, 39, checks on her near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Both have been living at the encampment for a few months. "It's just not fair," McCauley said. "We don't know where to go. Throwing us out issn't doing us any good, and it's not doing [the police and the city] any good either."
About a dozen tents set up behind Holy Family Community Center near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Krissy Gallagher-McMillan, 39, lives in an encampment near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. She has been without a home for about five years and living in a tent at the intersection for a few months with a chihuahua-pitfbull mix named Chewbacca.
Holy Family Community Center near 18th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. The former church has given permission for some people to live in tents on its property.
James Wagner, of Bellevue, drops off cans of soda for people living in tents near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Arielle Nichols, 32, lives in an encampment near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Krissy Gallagher-McMillan, 39, and Elizabeth Poole, 33, live in a tent together near 17th and Izard Streets in Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. They have been at the intersection for a few months with a chihuahua-pitfbull mix named Chewbacca.
