Ginny McKee, the co-chair of a homeless outreach group at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon (UUFCO), is hosting an event to help educate the community on homelessness. After seeing some of the projects that areas like Redmond have expanded on, including its safe parking program, she wanted to inspire community members in Bend to learn about regional resources and initiatives.
Along with other community members and service providers, McKee formed the Central Oregon Homelessness Forum. In talking with local agencies, she saw education about homelessness as critical.
The event, Understanding Homelessness in Central Oregon, aims to inform people about the population, while sharing information about projects and resources in other areas of Central Oregon. There will be a panel of speakers, from a variety of regional service organizations, a chance for attendees to ask questions and several local organizations present to offer information about their services.
“Once you get to hear more about why people are homeless, I think it helps build a lot of empathy, and hopefully we’ll have more support within the community, where there are suggestions on shelters or managed camps,” she said.
McKee hopes the event will spark discussions on local homelessness solutions. According to McKee, the UUFCO, which now offers safe parking, worked for nearly two years, due to push back from neighbors, to offer those services.
Rick Russell, director of Mountain View Community Development and Redmond’s safe parking program, is the moderator for the event and will discuss his experience as a service provider, according to McKee. Russell also plans to grow safe parking operations into Bend in the next few months.
While Bend already has a safe parking program, McKee is hopeful the nonprofit will help generate more opportunities for the city, and that this event could create some interest.
“We are thrilled to have him as the moderator, and if it can provide visibility for him in Bend, all the better, because we really want his safe parking initiative to be successful.”
The event will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Westside Church in Bend. Looking forward, McKee hopes to take this event to other communities, like La Pine and Prineville.
This article appears in The Source Weekly February 20, 2025.
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