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Westside business complex serves as magnet for the homeless

For at least one westside business owner, the rising homeless population has become an everyday problem for them.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's not your imagination -- there are more homeless people in Corpus Christi according to the area shelters and agencies that aim to serve them.

While the shelters serve as a sanctuary for the homeless, some actually choose to live on the streets.

For at least one westside business owner, the rising homeless population has become an everyday problem for them.

"They're all up and down this street," tax preparer Patsy Vasquez Contes said.

Contes' place of employment is located at the very busy intersection of Port and Tarlton, in a building containing a convenience store and an insurance and tax office. They get plenty of business, but they have a problem

"They sleep here. They wake up here," Contes said. "We literally drive up and they're covering up our parking lot. Our customers can't park."

She said the homeless and others with nothing to do like to hang around there. Over the last year, the four women working in the corner office of the small complex have had to deal with it as best they can.

"It's affecting local businesses on Port Avenue that have been here for many, many years," Contes.

The homeless, they said, have scared away customers.

"There's altercations with our customers outside coming in and out," Contes said. "Some customers, we have to go get them from their cars, bring them over here."

Contes added that the homeless there have even been seen urinating outside in public.

Corpus Christi police put up a "no trespassing" sign that includes a warning that violators will be prosecuted, but Contes said that did not do much to deter the problem.

"I went out there and chased one of them off and he was agressive, so I ran inside," Contes said. "It's scary. I'm scared. Sometimes they ask me for rides and I tell them, 'No, I can't give you a ride,' and I think they've been abandoned by their own families so they have nowhere else to go."

Police said they are aware of the ongoing homeless issue at Port and Tarlton and will be directing officers to make contact with business owners to resolve the issue.

Kiii News Reporters Rudy Trevino and Madeleine Dart take a closer look at what it's like to be homeless in the Coastal Bend, and the people who are working toward a solution, in a 3News Extra: Searching for Shelter, Wednesday at 10 p.m.

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