Sharing Space W/ Unhoused Neighbors
I live along a riverside. I enjoy walking that riverside. However we have some unhoused neighbors in that area. I usually walk with a little bell just so I don't surprise anyone. I make it a point not to take my cellphone out around their camps. I even reached out to the nearby homeless outreach and asked them to let anyone who lives there know that I mean no harm. Just wanna enjoy nature, watch birds, and get some exercise. I don't gawk, I don't interrupt their activities (even illegal ones, I have literally stepped over a girls needle she dropped cause it looked loaded and I didn't wanna fuck up her shit) and to be honest I don't give a fuck what they do back there. I don't want the camp torn down or reported. But I'm a fatty. And I need to walk. That walking is usually done along that riverside. In fact it's a perfect mile from my house to the abandoned tracks. Is there anything else I need to keep in mind? Is there anything else I can do so that they may eventually feel comfortable with my appearance? My dad has even dropped a tarp off to one of them years ago because he saw everyone else had one but them. I really do come in peace. Friend not foe. But how do I help them know that?