homeless
Posted inLocal News

Hunger Action Month Shines a Light on Food Insecurity in Central Oregon

September focuses on taking action to end hunger
by Wally Hofmann

As food costs continue to rise, hunger cannot be solved by any single person or organization acting alone. Many families face difficult choices each month: paying for groceries or filling a prescription; repairing a vehicle or covering utility bills; buying food or paying rent. September is Hunger Action Month, a nationwide campaign raising awareness about […]

Posted inOpinion

Why Are We Still Treating Homelessness Like a Five-Alarm Fire?

State’s approach still feels like a sudden crisis
by The Source Editorial Board

Even if you don’t pay close attention to public dollars like we do, you may have a general sense of how things are going in terms of funding for state and local governments. Due to a combination of federal cuts and the end of some pandemic-era funding sources, the budgets for area governments are going […]

Posted inLocal News

State’s New Homeless Shelter Program Leaves Some in Central Oregon Without Funding

Shelter providers competed for a $10 million pool, but then the process was thrown out
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

On a hot August afternoon, Christie Sheffield sits in the shaded corner of a parking lot, in a wide-brimmed hat, waiting for the doors of Bend’s only walk-up overnight shelter to open. Near 6 pm, a line forms outside the door. Others sit quietly nearby. Some carry on conversations, some ride bicycles and play music […]

Posted inOpinion

Empty Managed Camp = Debacle

A lack of qualified service providers means that Redmond and Deschutes County’s plans for more homeless services are delayed, again.
by The Source Editorial Board

If there’s a case to be made for expanding the capacity of the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners, look no further than the situation currently unfolding at the managed camp recently built by the County and the City of Redmond near the fairgrounds. After some waffling, the City and the County finally agreed to […]

Posted inLocal News

Deschutes County Asks Redmond to Pause Homeless Camp Sweep 

As homelessness on undeveloped land stifles industrial growth, County officials fear evicting dozens of campers will only result in more problems
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

Deschutes County asked the City of Redmond to pause the eviction of dozens of homeless campers from undeveloped land in a City-owned industrial park, saying the move would add chaos to an effort to remedy homelessness in the area and make way for development.   The Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners approved a letter detailing the request at a meeting March 18. That came one week after the Redmond City Council agreed to start notifying people living in tents and trailers on […]

Posted inOpinion

The Redmond Managed Camp Cleared a Funding Hurdle. Can It Clear the Toughest One?

When it comes to helping the unhoused, service providers are a sticking point
by The Source Editorial Board

If you were in Central Oregon before the pandemic, you would have seen a very different landscape as it pertains to the people living unsheltered. People camped in the junipers and overstayed their allotted time on public lands. Tent encampments were still visible. But what did not exist as it does now: The breadth of […]

Posted inLocal News

Plans for Managed Camp in Redmond Move Forward

City of Redmond, County Commission vote in favor of increased construction costs
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

Plans for a managed camp for the unhoused in Redmond moved forward this week, when the Redmond City Council, as well as the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners, voted to allocate additional dollars to the effort. A plan to offer a sanctioned camping area for the town’s unhoused population has been in the works […]

Posted inOpinion

One Good Turn Deserves Another

One developer helping the homeless shouldn’t get this much attention.
by The Source Editorial Board

It’s not a secret, and it’s nothing new: Central Oregon has too few homes for the people who already live here — not to mention the ones who keep coming — and the housing we do have is expensive. On this page, over the years we’ve advocated for all sorts of solutions: for governments to […]

Posted inNews

County Reneges on Planned Managed Camp

Commissioners Adair and DeBone backed out of a collaboration with the City that would’ve established a managed camp for displaced Hunnell Road residents
Avatar photo by Jack Harvel

The Deschutes County Commissioners backed out of a plan to hire a contractor to manage a safe parking campsite on a 1-acre parcel of land on Murphy Road in south Bend after a two-to-one vote. At a meeting on March 8, Commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair said complaints from neighbors, proximity to unmanaged camps […]

Posted inNews

Source Weekly Update Podcast 6/24/20 🎧

The story behind Bend’s “Rock Box” party bus, campers leave Juniper Ridge and more in this week’s Source Weekly Update
The Source Staff

In this week’s podcast: Local runners adjust their training with no Olympic Trials, Juniper Ridge campers move on, and the story behind the “Rock Box,” the party bus that rolls around Bend, all in this week’s Source Weekly Update. Source Weekly – Bend, Oregon · Source Weekly Update 6/24/20

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