Macon shopping center owner shares frustration with ‘Tent City’

A shopping center owner in Macon is expressing frustration over what he calls a "Tent City" behind his properties.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A shopping center owner in Macon is expressing frustration over what he calls a “Tent City” behind his properties.

According to owner Eli Mazon, between 100 and 150 homeless people live  in the encampment near Emery Highway. He claims they have damaged his properties.

However, those living in the encampment say they’re safe and friendly and just want to be left alone.

“We still people,” one person we spoke with there told us. “We just living our life. That’s it!” The person did not want to provide their name or go on camera.

While they may not be bothering anyone, the encampment is illegal and unsafe, according to William Barnes, the Chief Operating Officer of River Edge Behavioral Health.

“It’s not clean. It’s not healthy,” he said.

While some homeless individuals choose to be on the streets, Barnes says River Edge Behavioral Health will be there if anyone changes their mind.

“We meet people where they are,” he said. “hen we ask them that first time, they may not be willing. We don’t know what their circumstances were. Why did they flee a stable environment for this?  So you have to constantly present yourself, make yourself available so that if they change their mind, we’re available.”

River Edge Behavioral Health, which is located across the street from the shopping complex, says the encampment has been in place for more than two years.

While the man we spoke with said he has a home, he chooses to stay in the encampment because of his love for the outdoors and the friendships he’s made there.

“This is their home,” he said.