Tina Ross always knew she'd end up homeless but wasn't sure how.

"I've always known that I was going to live like this since I was little kid," Ross said. "I've always known, you sometimes know what you're going to do in life and how life is going to be — always knew it was going to be like this."

Ross grew up in central Topeka and dropped out of school as a teenager while attending Washburn Rural High School.

"Was I a high school dropout?" Ross said. "Yes. I did get my GED like a week later. I was going to join the military, but I found out I was pregnant."

For the past 12 years, Ross has lived along the Kansas River with her husband Dave Ross and their eight dogs. She said they understand it wouldn't be easy to find housing for people like her and her husband.

"We're all a mess and, you know, if we lived in a house, we wouldn't be allowed to have this kind of mess that we've all got going on," Ross said. "So, I mean, that's understandable, but things are expensive nowadays. Like I have six adult dogs and two pups. So, I got eight dogs all together. Who's going to rent a place to someone with that many dogs?

"And we took on the responsibility so, we're not giving them up. You know what I'm saying? And especially when you're on a fixed income, that just doesn't work, not with the way prices of rentals are nowadays."

Topeka continues to move homeless people from their camps

Monday marked the start of phase three of Topeka's abatement cleanup, which is when the city goes in and clears out all the homeless camps in a certain area. Previously, the city has focused efforts near N. Kansas Avenue Bridge and now is clearing out land along the Kansas River between the Sardou Bridge and Soldier Creek.

Topeka leaders have multiple times said they are taking a "people first" approach to addressing homelessness.

“Our goal with abatements is to take a people first approach. While official notices are going out this week, we always make sure the unhoused impacted individuals were aware of what was going on way in advance, so they knew what options they have,” said Topeka police Maj. Mike Cross in a written statement. “We care about these individuals and want to make sure they are getting the services they need.”

A written statement from the city said helpers would be at the camps to help homeless people with relocation options.

“Equity Access Shelter will complete an assessment with each impacted individual and ensure they are on the housing waitlist if they aren’t already,” said Carrie Higgins, housing services director. “We will talk through what options are available based on their specific needs and circumstances and connect them to those resources. We also work closely with the Capital City Outreach Teams to ensure consistent engagement with our unsheltered neighbors.”

Local homeless camper Chris Bardwell said nobody has spoken to him offering to help find them other options. Ross said the same. Neither of them knows specifically where they will go next.

Homeless camper reacts to Topeka's efforts to push them out

Bardwell said he's frustrated with city for continuing to move the camping line for him and other homeless people.

"I think it's (expletive)," Bardwell said. "I mean, there's people out here that don't have any means of a place to live or anything like that, and they have no choice but to live out here."

Bardwell said he's been forced out of his camp and had to relocate multiple times in the past six months. He also said he thinks Topeka's claims to put people first is misleading.

"I think it's pretty (expletive) that they say that they're going to do things for our community and for us and everything," he said, "and all they're doing is just making it worse."