A day care owner in Manchester says she is closing her doors after 20 years because of a growing homeless encampment across the street.
The owner of a day care center in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, plans to close her business in June.
Kristine Larocque, owner of Kindertree Learning Center, has worked in the location for nearly 20 years, but with a homeless encampment growing across the street, she said she felt it was no longer safe.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
Larocque told NBC10 Boston that homelessness around Pine Street and Manchester Street has worsened in the last three years.
"We see a lot of drug activity, we see sexual activity, there are fights, urination, we find needles in our parking lot all the time," Larocque said. "We close the curtains, we keep the windows closed, we've stopped bringing them on the playground."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Police in Manchester said in 2022, there was a nearly 44% decrease in violent crimes in the area, and nearly a 75% increase in citations.
More New Hampshire news
"What we have been doing is taking action on criminal offenses, drug use, drug sales," Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said.
Manchester city officials plan to increase patrols in the area of the encampment, put out trash cans for dirty needs, and add more emergency shelter space starting on Friday.
"I'm not going to arrest my way out of this problem, but I think people need to understand that. There's many nonprofits that receive state funds," Aldenberg said. "People should take a deeper dive into who are the nonprofits that are getting the money that they're responsible, or their mission is to outreach with these people."
City officials were also looking into mobile sanitation stations.
