Manchester, NH - The deadline was Tuesday for people to move out of the encampment outside the Families In Transition Shelter, but Wednesday morning became the day dismantling began.


Early Wednesday morning outreach workers from several agencies gathered on Manchester Street as DPW workers and police officers put up barriers to close down the street. Barriers were also placed on Pine Street closing one lane to give people in the encampment room to work,


DPW workers delivered several black totes with yellow lids to provide the people a place to secure belongings that the City of Manchester is going to store in a secure place for them. Previous encampment removals only allowed one tote per person but this time people could get as many totes as they wanted.


At about 10 a.m. people began the process of packing their belongings in totes, and shopping carts and some loaded their items in the vehicles of friends who were helping them.


Residents in the encampment were advised that DPW workers would begin removing unwanted items at noon. A large DPW truck with a boom outfitted with a claw scooped up clothes, tents, and belongings and loaded it into a truck.


A front loader and several dump trucks arrived and assisted in removing unwanted items while other DPW workers loaded totes into trucks to transport them to a secure facility.


Gilles Bissonnette, the Legal Director for the NH ACLU and worked to stop the city by a suit filed in court was on scene most of the day answering questions for the people being evicted. Supporters of the homeless community set up a table serving coffee and donuts to those packing up their belongings.


Mid-afternoon cars lined up along Pine Street inside the erected barriers loading the belongings of people they were assisting.


Several people had multiple carts loaded and pulled them away from the encampment headed to downtown Manchester.


When asked where they would go, some did not want to answer or said they didn’t know. Othe