‘A new tool in our toolbox’: Omaha’s encampment pilot comes to a close

It’s not a solution to homelessness, but city leaders call it a start.Omaha’s encampment pilot program wraps up on April 30. It came in response to Councilman Brinker Harding’s proposed ordinance that would have banned encampments on public property. Violators would have been fined up to $300 and face up to 30 days in jail.At Saddle Creek and Cuming, Dillon Chronister got used to seeing encampments.”Oftentimes, when there are people camping out over here, you’ll find hypodermic needles laying on the ground and that’s really scary,” Chronister said. But he’s noticed a difference in the past six months.”While I hope they’re getting the resources that they need, having less of a homeless encampment presence here has been a little bit less stressful in the neighborhood,” Chronister said.Tamara Dwyer, the city of Omaha’s homeless services coordinator, says that’s likely the result of the city’s encampment pilot program that started last November.In partnership with Threshold COC, Dwyer and her team issued seven to 10-day vacate notices to encampments on city property.”And if they refuse to go, then that’s when we would have to involve law enforcement. Now luckily, there was one incident that we had to involve law enforcement, and it had nothing to do with the person not wanting to move,” Dwyer said.Jason Feldhaus is the executive director of Threshold COC, the nonprofit the city teamed up with. As encampments were closed down, Feldhaus said Threshold team members helped people with everything from basic needs to finding immediate or long-term housing.”I think we built a really good partnership with the city, the mayor’s office, with the city council,” Feldhaus said. Other agencies involved in the program include Community Alliance, HEAL, Siena Francis House, Stephen Center and Together.Between November 2025 and March 2026, program leaders say 43 encampments on city property were closed down. Some popped back up and were closed down again. “It did give us a new tool in our toolbox to address encampments on the streets,” Feldhaus said.Dwyer said in 2025, clearing locations cost the city an average of $2,559.59 each. She emphasizes that this isn’t a solution to homelessness.In her view, the solution is finding housing for people who’ve been without it for too long. “How can we make what we’ve done so far, and add to it, and make it successful for not only neighborhoods and businesses but the people that are suffering in the streets, that are at the center of all of this?” Dwyer said.Dwyer and Feldhaus say they were already working on an encampment program, but city council wanted encampments cleared out on a quicker timeline. “It had a longer time period, and so one of the things that the homeless sector was able to discuss with the city council was shortening that to a seven to 10-day timeframe and being much more rapid in our response,” Feldhaus said.Feldhaus said he intends to continue the program, past the pilot, for at least the next few months. Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |