STUART, Fla. — If you walk into the wooded area at the corner of Salerno Road and Smith Avenue in Stuart, you'll find piles and piles of trash that once belonged to people illegally camping there.
It was recently abandoned because of efforts by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office to crack down on the homeless population.
“This camp was active up until I would say several weeks ago. There were about still a dozen individuals living back here,” said investigator Tyler Ludlow with the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
The area is across from Love and Hope in Action, better known as LAHIA, a daytime safe haven for those who are homeless.
“You know if there is a wooded area across the street from where the homeless population kind of gathers that this is what you would find,” said John Rourke, a veteran and Martin County resident. “We’re talking about tents and mattresses and comforters, pots and pans.”
Rourke is leading an effort to clean up the trash at the old encampment on Saturday, with the help of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, LAHIA and local businesses.
"We're being proactive and getting out in the community, cleaning up these sites, making them less desirable for people to set up shop again in here," he said.
Rourke does this all over the country in his spare time, so when he learned of this site near home, he didn’t hesitate.
“My wife was taking our children to school. There’s a school down the road from here. And she was telling me about the kids walking by the homeless encampment and riding their bikes and just didn’t think that that was really a safe situation,” he said. "We can't have kids walking by these areas where people are openly using drugs and drinking alcohol."
Over the last three months, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office worked to get 15 homeless people relocated.
Region Martin County
Vagrant problem 'public safety issue,' Martin Co. sheriff says
“We’ve diminished the amount of homeless people here in Martin County and one of the ways we’ve done it is to find out where they’ve come from and to help them get back home. We’ve gone as far as to buy bus tickets,” said Sheriff William Snyder.
About 50 volunteers are expected to show up for this weekend's clean up, a labor of love and effort made in good faith.
“My service is over to the Army but I can still do something for the country and this is what I chose to do. Clean up trash,” added Rourke.
The community clean-up will take place on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 9 a.m. at 1760 SE Salerno Road in Stuart. The effort is open to the public. The organizers recommend gloves and sturdy shoes.
