People evicted from Hamilton’s Bayfront Park encampment face new struggles

Hamilton’s struggle with homelessness came to a head this past Friday as police and by-law officers moved to evict six people from encampments at Bayfront Park.

CHCH News checked in with one person who found temporary shelter in a motel.

Also, one member of that encampment has allegedly moved onto the property of Hutch’s Harbour Front without permission.

Melanie Manseiu has been without a permanent home for two years.

When she was evicted from her encampment at Bayfront Park in Hamilton last Friday, city by-law enforcement officers with the supervision of Hamilton police took away whatever belongings she couldn’t take with her.

“Two years ago we lost our apartment, because you forgot to pay one month,” she said.

Manseiu says they were served an eviction notice by police and says she was prepared to find another apartment.

However, her dog gave birth to 12 puppies and Manseiu made the decision to quit her job to take care of them and find them homes.

Her partner is their only source of income.

“It’s still sad they are in the same homeless situation,” said Bree McLaughlin, who supports Melanie.

McLaughlin and her friends organize donations of dog food in their spare time to help feed pets whose owners are experiencing homelessness.

She met Manseiu through this volunteer work.

“We’d like to see all of the people in the encampment at Bayfront Park – we’d like to see them all get into housing,” said McLaughlin.

Deborah Paley runs a Facebook group called The Comfort Corner designed to collect donations and deliver them to those who are unhoused.

“Our goal is to get back into a home or some sort of a permanent shelter,” she said.

Paley has also been assisting Manseiu.

Paley says another person who was evicted from the encampment Friday had allegedly moved to the back lot of the Hutch’s Harbour Front with permission.

An employee from the restaurant said to CHCH News that this is not true and they are not allowed to be there.

Staff are investigating how this happened over the last 48 hours.

READ MORE: Six evicted from Bayfront Park amid homelessness crisis