Roughly 50 homeless people were asked to leave "Tent City," a plot of land Catholic Charities of Acadiana owns near the 600 Block of W Simcoe and Washington Street.
Ben Broussard, Chief of External Affairs for Catholic Charities, said in a statement, "It is no longer feasible for Catholic Charities of Acadiana to continue allowing outdoor overnight sleeping on their property, due to lack of funding to hire staff and security to sleep outdoors overnight on their St. John Street campus."
Joseph Soloman said he has been living in "Tent City" for a while now and has no place to go.
"We usually call it 'Tent City,'" Soloman said. "Everybody be out here doing what they got to do...Everybody works like a family...That's all we do. We work together."
Some community activists like Casey Leleux said she fell in love with this homeless community and some of their struggles hit close to home.
"I started passing out Narcan to them and Fentanyl test strips to them because I want them to stay safe," Leleux said. "My daughter Lyric passed away from Fentanyl poisioning a year and a few months ago, so I'm trying to save as many lives as possible."
Some residents in the area said expulsion is not the solution to the homeless crisis in Lafayette.
James Proctor said he lives a block away from "Tent City" and is urging the community to take action.
"I think it's a shame we can't seem t come together as a community to resolve this issue or to at least address sme resources to the issue," Proctor said. "If we can vote millions to a no-kill animal shelter surely we can give the people here just as much as we give the animals."
