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Encampment on river bank raises concerns in Highlawn

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A shopping cart sits submerged in the water along the Ohio River bank near McClelland Park, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

HUNTINGTON Ƶ Highlawn resident Tom Sealey has learned in the past several months that the neighborhood he has lived in since he was 7 is not the same place it once was.

Sealey no longer feels safe leaving his door unlocked and immediately has to unload tools and scraps clients give him from his work in heating and air.

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Tom Sealey, a member of Highlawn Church of Christ, describes problems the church has had vandalism since the number of unhoused people in the neighborhood has increased, photographed Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.

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A lawn mower sits parked at the edge of the water near McClelland Park, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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A handmade sign warning trespassers faces 27th Street at a vandalized property owned by Highlawn Church of Christ, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Broken windows along the front side of a vandalized property owned by Highlawn Church of Christ, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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A bag of personal belongings and a sleeping bag sit behind a vandalized property owned by Highlawn Church of Christ, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Interior of a vandalized property owned by Highlawn Church of Christ, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Highlawn resident David Jones holds up a makeup bag painted with expletives left at a former encampment ont the Ohio River bank near McClelland Park, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Highlawn resident David Jones points to a tree where he says he took down a warning sign discouraging people from entering a former encampment over the Ohio River bank from McClelland Park, photographed Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.

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Litter scattered across the Ohio riverbank at a former encampment just outside of the McClelland Park border, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Litter scattered across the Ohio riverbank at a former encampment just outside of the McClelland Park border, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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Sunlight beams on a stuffed unicorn resting amid the other littered belongings at a former encampment along the Ohio River bank near McClelland Park, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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A suitcase litters the ground amongst the other garbage at a former encampment on the Ohio River banknear McClelland Park, photographed on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Huntington.

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