As crews were lining up equipment Tuesday morning to clear out the homeless camp near a former Far South Side park, Terry Trojan was munching on a doughnut at a small table at the edge of the camp that also included a bowl of fruit and some small cans of Pringles chips.

Trojan was trying to get enough to eat before losing his home. "I've lived in these woods for 10 years," said Trojan. "I don't know where I'm going to go."

Trojan was one of roughly a half-dozen people who were still at the camp strung along a line of trees near the former Heer Park at 125 W. Williams Road and a Walmart on South High Street. At one point more than a week ago there were between 20 and 25 people there in the camp. 

Police presence was heavy Tuesday. At 8 a.m., there were 13 cruisers on West Williams Road and one more near National Storage Centers just east of the camp.

Police ultimately seemed to outnumber the group of homeless advocates and protesters, perhaps 15 to 20, who also were there. They did not disrupt the clear-out. But they were vocal and upset.

"Look at the police presence here," said Jeff Watters, a homeless advocate with Heer to Serve.

"I think it's outrageous. Seriously," said Emily Myers, another advocate with the group. 

City officials said there had been reported drug use at the camp, and health and sanitation issues. Also, nearby retailers have reported thefts and damage to buildings, but officials said not all the problems at those stores had been attributed to the homeless camp.

Emerald Hernandez-Parra, assistant director of special projects in the city's Department of Development, said beds would be made available at shelters, but perhaps not Tuesday.

"Space will be made if they want it," she said.

Myers asked Hernandez-Parra, "When are you going to put people in housing?"

Hernandez-Parra replied, "We can't drop anybody off at a house now."

People have to apply for housing, she said.

"Where are they going to go?" Myers said.

Local activist Joe Motil of Clintonville, a former Columbus City Council candidate who has been critical of city policies, was at the site Tuesday morning to support Myers.

"I think it's a shame," Motil said of the clear-out. He criticized spending so much tax money on police there.

"We need to start providing decent housing for these people," Motil said. 

Activist Elizabeth Onzina questioned why so much money is being spent to clear out the camp, when it could be targeted to housing, calling the eviction inhumane and absurd.

"There is a housing crisis in this city," she said. "There are endless empty hotels on all sides of town."

Trojan called the large police presence intimidating. "But we'll be all right," he said.

Columbus police Sgt. Ed Daniher, who oversees police community liaison officers on the South Side and other parts of the city, said the city has made efforts to link those at the camp with services. But he said some at the camp didn't want assistance.

The camp was filled with shopping carts piled with items, including a broken purple big-wheel-type tricycle in one. A handful of tents remained in the heart of the camp. A brown armchair sat near one. So did a black stroller for two children. A suitcase sat next to a pile of garbage with cans, blankets, a Fritos bag and paper plates as flies buzzed about.

"Nobody should live in these conditions," Daniher said. "There are significant problems."

Representatives from Maryhaven, the behavioral health services provider that specializes in addiction recovery, and Mount Carmel Street Medicine were there Tuesday morning. Tensions were high about what would happen to those in the camp. A representative from Maryhaven told protesters “If you’re so passionate, put them in your backyards.”

The city delayed the camp clear-out previously because of the hot weather. Temperatures after sunrise Tuesday started out in the low 60s with the afternoon high expected to hit in the mid-90s.

At 8:37 a.m., a police officer said over a loudspeaker, "You have 30 minutes to get your belongings and get off the property."

About 15 minutes later, at the vacated east end of the camp, a small excavator started digging, kicking off the cleanup. Meanwhile, a small front-end loader with a grapple bucket grabbed and crunched tents and other materials and dumped them into a trailer.

The quoted cost that Environmental Remediation Contractor of Groveport gave to the city to clear the camp, including cutting brush and spraying herbicides, was $45,607. Hernandez-Parra said via email that the contractor will give the city the final cost after the work is done.

Toward the western end of the camp, nestled in the small thicket of trees, a small bearded man known as Papa Bear was stuffing plastic bags of whatever he could take before leaving the camp. A gold cross dangled from his neck as he bent over.

He carried two small Gatorade bottles as he left the camp.

Watters helped load a U-Haul truck next to the Walmart with the man's and others' belongings, to take them for safe keeping at Equitas Health.

There would be just one run.

"I didn't know it was a one-trip deal," Watters said. "Get up your stuff and go."

A woman who gave her name as Dee wasn’t a permanent resident of the camp, but she said she visited Heer Park and other local camps frequently for the social connection while she waits to be placed in a shelter. 

“There are real people back here with real lives and real problems, and people need to realize that,” Dee said. “Just because I’m out here doesn't mean I’m a dummy and doesn’t mean I’m illiterate. I’m a real person.” 

“People need people,” she said. “It’s not about liking each other. It’s about needing each other.” 

While she’s worked small jobs here and there, she said people don’t often realize how hard it can be to find stable and consistent employment, especially for Dee who has illnesses that make it hard to work full time. Often times she finds jobs cleaning local parking lots in exchange for $30 to $50 dollars, or even a fresh meal. 

Later, about 9:45 a.m., 15 or so activists who remained near the site loudly chanted, "Housing is a human right!" and "Camp sweeps kill." By 10:30 a.m., they walked in a line through the trees to the Walmart parking lot.

The city said in February 2021 that it was "temporarily closing" the park, with one parks official writing the Far South Area Commission about ongoing challenges with drug use, homeless camps, ATV use and an uptick in violent activities at Heer Park. But the city never reopened the park, later breaking up its parking lot and removing the park's features, including a popular BMX track.

At the time the city closed the park, homeless advocates had been providing clothes, tents, tarps, and Narcan, which can revive people who overdose on opioids, to the approximately 50 to 60 homeless people who visited on Friday and Saturday nights.

Officials from Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks and Metro Parks have discussed creating a new park on the site of the closed park Metro Parks bought 50.7 acres adjacent to Heer Park in October 2019 for about $1.1 million.