At the crack of dawn on March 14 the Bend Police Department arrived at the Second Street camp to clear campers off public right of ways. Bend City Manager Eric King declared the campsite unsafe after a report from BPD deemed it unsafe on Feb. 16, under criteria approved by the Bend City Council in December.
The campsite surged after the Oregon Department of Transportation cleared the on-ramp to Highway 97 on Revere Avenue in October, which itself swelled after Emerson Avenue was cleared in June. The City is required to give campers at least two weeks’ notice and service providers 72-hour notice, though service providers said they were informed earlier than the minimum requirements.
“There were several service providers that were down there having conversations with people, kind of chatting about what they needed to make sure that they were able to move, whether that was a cart to pull their items, whether they needed a new tent or other items,” said Stacey Witte, executive director of REACH, an organization that provides outreach to houseless people.
Witte said REACH conducted assessments to connect people with different housing options like the newly opened Division Street Shelter. Most of the displaced campers moved to already existing camps like those on Hunnel Road, China Hat Road and smaller campsites dispersed throughout town.
“I think that when someone has to move further out of the area, there are some more challenges,” Witte said. Challenges can include access to food and water, transportation and propane. Longer commutes can often be devastating for houseless people who are susceptible to theft when they leave their belongings out.
Director of Development at Shepherd’s House David Notari said the overnight shelter on Second Street saw a couple former Second Street campers stay, but that most have dispersed to other campsites. Project S.H.A.R.E., Shepherd’s House’s team that does direct outreach to campsites across town, attempts to build relationships in the hopes people will eventually use shelters rather than camping.
“I think that’s one of the key factors in helping a person to develop trust so that they would step into a shelter, because many of them have anxiety about that, have apprehensions about that,” Notari said. “We’ve seen a little increase based upon that Second Street closure. But the reality is that there are many who are stuck in the dilemma of homelessness who don’t want to live in a shelter.”
There’s a challenge connecting people to services who don’t want to live in a shelter, but officials hope it can be partially addressed with the creation of a navigation center.
Navigation Center
On March 16 the Bend City Council gave its initial approval to establish a new city navigation center, a low-barrier emergency shelter that connects individuals and families with health services, public benefits and permanent housing.
The Oregon legislature awarded Bend and six other Oregon cities $2.5 million in funding to establish a navigation center. Since confirming state funding was coming its way in June, city officials have been consulting with regional service providers to determine just what a new navigation center would look like.
“It’s a pretty broad definition. You need to be providing daytime services for families and individuals that are connecting people with public benefit with resources for permanent housing,” said Amy Fraley, affordable housing coordinator for the City of Bend.
Ideally navigation centers include case management, behavior and physical health referrals, addiction services or referrals, daily meals and ways to obtain documents helpful for getting re-housed, such as state IDs and social security cards. The City put out a Request for Qualifications in December 2021 to gauge interest and ability of local service providers.
“We all had an opportunity to really sit down and understand what people were comfortable doing and what they wanted to do. Do some interviews, and then with that we issued the RFP in November of 2021. We did a pre submittal public meeting in December. And then by the time we got to the actual submission deadline, we only had Shepherd’s House that wanted to move forward, which made a lot of sense,” Fraley said.
Shepherd’s House does coordinate and conduct some services already at its Second Street nightly shelter location. It reported it’s connected 10 people with addiction treatment programs, 23 people to supportive housing and assisted living and reconnected 15 to private housing since October. Still, as an overnight shelter with little permanency, it’s been a challenge connecting people to resources from there.
“Because there’s no daytime use, there hasn’t been an opportunity to have folks there during the day. It’s really difficult for service providers to come into that space and use that space as a hub of service, which is what we’re trying to do,” Fraley said. “They have been focused on giving people a meal and a safe place to stay overnight.”
Shepherd’s House’s facility on Second Street will need a commercial kitchen and additional showers to fit under the definition of a navigation center, which would necessitate a sewer water pipe upgrade. It’s expected to have 24/7 staffing, services and continued participation in the homeless management information system by June 30. Once that’s completed Shepherd’s House will focus on the over 400 people who’ve already stayed with them before expanding to serve a broader population in 2023 that goes beyond shelter guests.
“Walk up services is one area that was discussed so that people could, instead of having to be a shelter guests, they might just need some basic assistance, or referrals for something like getting a Social Security Card or a license or some housing vouchers or a variety of other services that don’t require that person to necessarily be part of being in the shelter itself overnight,” Notari said.
The City will contribute just under $1.3 million a year for the project and $46,400 in startup costs taken from its general fund and from American Rescue Act funds. The City can renew the contract for up to two two-year contracts after the first three years. Another state initiative targeted on homeless is the coordinated response office, sponsored by Bend’s representative in Salem, Rep. Jason Kropf.
Joint Office
The Oregon legislature also sent $1 million to eight Oregon counties, including Deschutes, to form coordinated response offices for houselessness. Each office would include an advisory board, and the counties are expected to develop a five-year plan to increase or improve services, incorporate best practice while eliminating racial disparities and creating paths to permanent housing.
“The goal of this is to provide some money so our cities and counties can start a joint office, can work with our community partners, have an overall vision and strategic plan in a community where we’re working on this, that hopefully, this will accelerate that,” Kropf said.
Prior to this concept the Homeless Leadership Coalition filled the role of a county wide office that works with different service providers in the tri-county area — including Crook and Jefferson counties. The Emergency Homeless Task Force is also something of a precursor to the coordinated response office that brought together service providers in the county and Bend to identify opportunities for greater care and to develop action toward ending homelessness. The coordinated office, however, could be the first to incorporate all Central Oregon municipalities.
“Because there’s no daytime use, there hasn’t been an opportunity to have folks there during the day. It’s really difficult for service providers to come into that space and use that space as a hub of service, which is what we’re trying to do.” —Amy Fraley
“I hope that each of the cities will be a full partner and full participant in the coordinated office,” Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang said. “One of the jobs of the coordinating office is to produce a strategic plan. If the people who participate in this new effort—the coordinated response office—basically, the strategic plan that was produced by the Emergency Homelessness Task Force, then we can spend less time planning and more time doing.”
County officials met with the Redmond City Council on March 15 to begin the collaborative process, and with the Sisters City Council on March 9. Chang said he’s seen a difference in how different municipalities are addressing the issue of houselessness. Whereas Bend is aggressively looking to increase the number of shelter beds and services for the unhoused, cities with less visible houseless populations aren’t as likely to fund shelters. In September, Redmond tabled a proposal to fund a homeless shelter with American Rescue Plan Act funds, and Chang said Sisters has been hesitant to add additional houseless facilities.
“It’s quite possible that we should be dealing with these issues differently from community to community,” Chang said. “It’s probably a better idea to think about providing a central location on a regional basis. So the services and facilities that we provide, these should look different across the county, but my hope is that all of the jurisdictions will come to the discussion excited to create the facilities that we need regionally. Even if that means there are certain kinds of facilities that it doesn’t make sense to create in every city and county.”
This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2022.
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Our city councilors need to start listening to their community members. Our community has weighed in on this topic of low barrier housing and shelter code amendments in which the majority of Bend citizens and tax payers here are against. This is a non partisan issue. This is a community issue. Our community needs a high barrier Navigation center here in Bend. A facility that holds the houseless accountable to take the services being offered that they need. Many do need rehab, mental health services and other socials services that they are not willing to take to get themselves up off the ground and be accountable to themselves so they can integrate into our community as participating citizens. They need to have accountability and skin in the game. If they are not willing, then I feel as many others do, they need to leave Bend and figure it out somewhere else. We should not be putting anymore funds into low barrier anything. And , although seconds street looks much better, feel safer for everyone, where did these people go? You can’t sweep people without high barrier shelters and services being offered and if they don’t take that offer, then a one way ticket out of town is in order. These sweeps damage them more and is not helping them become accountable or getting them the services they so desperately need. There should be no houseless camping allowed at all in Bend. Our community deserves better and these houseless people deserve a chance to become active participants in our world. We need our city council to start listening to our community and focus on affordable housing and proper urban development of our central district.
Have you ever asked yourself who’s going to profit from zone changes, to so-called “help the homeless Problem problem out”?
People who are in favor of this are out to make a profit from it starting with developers.
Yes we have a homeless problem, but if you look hard enough and you’re driving northbound or southbound into Bend On the 97 or driving from sisters into Bend you see them on the roadside riding their bikes or hiking towards Bend…. All the time.
They are migrating here people, and ask yourself why?
We are the only state to have decriminalized hard-core drug use, And of course we have “survival theft” , so they can just walk in the stores and loot and take whatever they want and they won’t get arrested, basically they shop for free!
Yep, so much for Law and order.
So, are we still pretending that exorbitant real estate and rental pricing isn’t contributing to the growing homeless population? I’ll save you from all your Google research: It is. It absolutely is contributing.
Let’s connect some dots.
Let’s say there are 3 classes of renter. At the top, you have fairly wealthy folks who could buy a house at will, but choose not to for whatever reason – they’re here temporarily, they’re waiting for the right opportunity, or maybe they just don’t want the responsibility. They’ll rent a nice 3-bedroom house for as long as they feel like it.
In the middle, you have people who make the median income in the area – they have careers – Business managers, Teachers, web developers, skilled workers, contractors, police officers, etc. These are long-term renters and they plan on being here for years to come. They’d like to buy something eventually, but it’s gonna be a while before they have a down payment. They might rent anything from a decent 1br apartment to a crappy 3-br house. They’ll go as cheap as they can get away with so that they can possibly save enough money for a down payment someday.
At the bottom is were we find students, first-time renters, and all the low-income workers who staff our restaurants, grocery stores, and various other jobs the general public takes for granted. They’ll maybe rent a Studio if they’re lucky, but it’s usually more likely that they’re renting a room, maybe splitting a house with roommates or the homeowner.
Guess what happens when rental costs increase 3-5 times faster than the local wages/salaries? Well, group one either downgrades to the second-tier rentals or buys a home. In either case, this squeezes the mid-level renters out and pushes them to the bottom-rung properties, which they’re now paying mid-level pricing for.
And the folks at the bottom? Some begin to share housing where they didn’t have to before. Many don’t even make enough qualify for any rental anywhere, so they live in their vehicles, hoping to find something – but the reality is that living homeless out of a car or van isn’t as cheap as we tend to think. They lose ground rapidly. It’s hard to shower or do laundry. They can’t cook food. Things spiral from there, and then we have our new crop of homeless.
In the end, if Bend jobs can’t pay Bend rent, why should the workforce you rely on even bother to stick around? Who’s gonna staff our grocery stores? Who’s gonna run the chair lifts? How are the local breweries gonna continue to operate if nobody can afford to work for them? How is our local healthcare system gonna function if no nurse can pay to live here? Who’s fix your car? Where are you gonna go for happy hour when the pub can’t keep any staff to pour your IPA’s?
If we continue to price out Bend’s support staff, we stand to lose much of what makes Central Oregon livable in the first place while we continue to surround ourselves with homeless camps.
Erik404- you may enjoy reviewing our editorial from several weeks back which mentions the costs of renting nowadays and how much it’s gone up:
https://www.bendsource.com/bend/in-the-bcd…
And a general note to all readers/commenters: We value truth and accuracy and per our guidelines (found on our About Us page) reserve the right to remove comments that contain non-factual information.
Thanks for reading everyone!
Erik404, there are close to 12 million jobs out there right now, housing prices always go up and down, what we have here is an epidemic of people who just dont want to work, and live off the grid and be carefree meanwhile being taken care of by the state in the cities that they dwell in.
Im so sick of the sugarcoating, Im 60 years old I couldve been homeless plenty of times, it never happened because I didnt let it happen, You have to pull up your boots by your strap and go out and work and watch your money and stay the hell off of drugs.
Its not cheap to rent anywhere around here, thats why people need to live where they can afford to live not where they think theyre entitled to live.
I can bet there is plenty of cheap apartments and housing in Oklahoma.
Affordable housing is a crock, All it means is its people that think theyre entitled to live in a place where they really cant afford it, but now the cities going to make it work out for them, so they build them in your backyard!
I am so sick of this utopia way of thinking, people have a choice, get off drugs and alcohol and get your act together, or stay on drugs and alcohol and go away, because we dont want you in Bend, I only want to help out the people that want to be helped, majority of them dont want any help!!
And Im really getting sick of activism, you activists are like a thorn in everybodys side, we dont want the homeless garbage in our cities taking over, do you get it?
these people are migrating here because of the perks Erik404.
We are going to turn into a mini San Francisco or Portland if the city Council has anything to do with it,
This is what happens when a particular area becomes very popular, rents rise rapidly because people migrate here with money that want to live there, all the beach cities is the same deal, they have the beach, we have the mountains
I have a trade I can afford to live in Bend, if you want afford to live here than you better learn how to do something else, or work 4 jobs its all up to you but this is what happens when popularity of a city explodes, and it doesnt help that the city of Bend spends $4 million a year advertising our little city all over America.
I was in Orange County last year, sitting at the airport and A big screen with Bend Oregon was on it.
Theres a large population that do not want help, and they came here from Portland Seattle Eugene and I want them the hell out of my town, they are not my problem,
Mass majority of these people are not Bend citizens or became homeless in Bend, they came from somewhere else, wake up,
Stop looking for lame reasons of why we have a homeless crisis, read between the lines its all about rezoning bend and theyre using the homeless to do it,
Please, Biden destroyed our economy, but thats no reason to let vagrancy, and massive alcohol and drug abuse filthy up our streets.
Tell him to go to a shelter and clean up and get a job and contribute to society.
If youre not going to clean up, you need a one-way ticket out of town, because the citizens of Bend do not need any more menaces of society roaming our street all day and all night high and drunk looking to see what they can steal, pawn, or lets say walk in the grocery store and steal all they want because its called a survival Theft, this behavior and way of thinking just sticks in my crawl
Bend is ran by liberal snowflakes.
Just listen to the interview with Meghan Perkins a couple years ago.
Liberals ruined everything theyre in charge of, zero common sense and everythings about feelings and everything needs to be in an even playing field, this is what happens when children grow up thinking that everybody deserves a trophy.
The homeless are not my problem, But theyre becoming our problem because the liberal Ran city Council wants to use a formula that has already been used in San Francisco and LA, it horribly failed!!
The city Council is not real bright, all it takes is a phone call and they will find out that throwing and wasting millions of dollars using the same tactics the big cities used collapsed, theyre homeless problem is worse.
ever heard the term get out of town, and if we see you here again you will be arrested?
FMarcos, You should go to the local homeless camps and read all of your web comments aloud to them. I guarantee they’ll want to get as far away as possible.
Erik404…, What Im saying is absolute truth, and What I said needs to be said by the city Council and law-enforcement in this town, majority these people need to be rounded up and shipped out of town and I dont care where they go, just not here, and the population of them are growing daily. Because of our touchy feel good leader ship in the city, and heres the best part, the homeless know exactly what they can get away, And theyre gonna take it as far as they can.
if I notice I have a cockroach problem in my home, I dont keep feeding them so the population grows, and enabling other cockroaches to come live in my home