After the homeless camp cleanup, where do the people go?

A massive homeless camp cleanup was underway Tuesday near Las Vegas Street in Colorado Springs.

When the camp was discovered there was near 150 people who had made their make-shift home alongside the railroad tracks. After a two-week notice, they’re now moving on.

Finding a place to put the piles of trash that had accumulated wasn’t hard, but finding a spot for the people to go isn’t so easy.

Stuart McKelvey, a man exiting the camp, said, “I’m trying to get off the streets.”

For some, that meant going to one of the shelters in town, for others, it meant finding a new spot for their tent.

Jason Harrison is another homeless man who said he’s working to change his way of life.

“I’m just going to go further down the road… until they move us again,” Harrison said.

A man who goes by the name of the Caveman said he’s worried there aren’t many places left for people like him. He said, “I don’t think there’s any left that homeless people haven’t left a lot of trash behind.”

It’s an ongoing cycle without a real solution for the people who keep moving camps. The city of Colorado Springs wants them to find shelter in the hundreds of beds added to shelter’s capacity, but many of the people on the street say it’s not an option for them.

McKelvey said many won’t go because “there are restrictions that the missions and the shelters have the people don’t like.”

The cleanup inside the camp will continue over the next few days until crews can pick up all the trash left behind.