Low-Barrier Shelter Coming to Redmond

Shepherd’s House Ministries is in its final stage of fundraising for a 45-bed low-barrier homeless shelter in Redmond, which currently doesn’t have a shelter of that type. On May 10 Shepherd’s House is launching a public campaign to raise $400,000 from donors. It already raised $3.1 million from private, nonprofit and public donors, including $450,000 from the City of Redmond and $300,000 from Deschutes County.

The former Grace Gate Church is expected to open as a homeless shelter before winter sets in. Credit: Jack Harvel

“We’re really the only low-barrier shelter that consistently serves the homeless population in Redmond,” said David Notari, director of development at Shepherd’s House Ministries. “Bethlehem Inn has a certain amount of shelter beds in Redmond through Project Turnkey [a state initiative renovating motels into homeless shelters]. And there’s a lot of services that exist for food like Jericho Road food and what we do, which is in conjunction with Mountain View Church, which is a temporary winter shelter. But the distinction is low-barrier versus high-barrier.”

Redmond’s homeless population more than doubled in the 2023 Point in Time Count, which tracks the number of people experiencing homelessness. Low-barrier shelters accommodate a population that is more vulnerable than high-barrier shelters, where there may be conditions of sobriety and participation in a program to stay. Latest results found 262 people experiencing homelessness in the community, though it’s likely undercounted due to lack of participation. Shepherd’s House operated a winter warming shelter from November to March for the past few years out of various Redmond churches.

It opened the Lighthouse Navigation Center in Bend in June 2022, and Notari said more regular shelter hours get more people in the door and into supportive services.

“What we found in Bend at the Lighthouse Navigation Center is two things: One, because we’re consistently open, the shelter side of that effort has grown because people know every night that they have a place to go, whether it’s hot or cold. And then, because there are really helpful services that produce tangible results. We’ve rehoused 74 individuals in just this year at the Lighthouse, including transitional housing and long-term housing,” Notari said.

The Redmond shelter will partner with service providers in mental health, addiction and case management from other local organizations, but Notari said the level of service in Redmond won’t be at the same level as the state-funded navigation center in Bend. More support services may be added to the program as it grows but it won’t be able to handle the same levels of support at the start.

Shepherd’s House purchased the property, which is formerly the Grace Gate Church on Highway 97, 18 months ago and has quietly worked on creating the shelter since. Notari said its position in a traffic corridor, its access to public transportation and the lack of residential neighbors are reasons it selected the former Grace Gate Church as a site. The shelter is expected to open before next winter, when Shepherd’s House would typically begin its seasonal shelters. A 40-person encampment by the Redmond Airport is scheduled to be cleared by August, when the airport will begin construction on a fence. Notari expects beds to fill up quickly at the Redmond shelter.

“In Redmond alone there are 262 people in the Point in Time count, you generally multiply by 30% and you get the truer number. So, it’s close to 300 people that we’re going to potentially help. Not all of them will come to us because not all of them are interested in getting help. But those who do are going to probably max out our capacity right away,” Notari said.

This article appears in Source Weekly May 11, 2023.