homeless
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

Posted inNews

City Pauses Homeless Camp Evictions

The City of Bend planned to post 30-day notices to vacate Juniper Ridge this week. Instead, they may establish a managed camp.
Laurel Brauns

The City of Bend is backing off plans to post 30-day eviction notices at Juniper Ridge, an encampment for people without homes in northeast Bend. The camp has become a semi-permanent refuge for dozens of unhoused people over the last decade. The City wants to build a sewer pipeline directly through an established tent village […]

Posted inNews

How Can I Help?

From Facebook Groups to online donations, the coronavirus crisis can be a chance to volunteer and offer financial assistance
Laurel Brauns

A crisis of the magnitude that COVID-19 represents can reveal the lack of sustainable social safety nets in American society. Local, state and federal government assistance is on the way, but more help is needed to make sure everyone has access to services and assistance. Closures of vital resources, such as libraries where many people […]

Posted inNews

Homeless Camp Evictions

The City of Bend plans to remove the people who live on Juniper Ridge, but where will they go?
Laurel Brauns

Eviction is sometimes caricatured as a cruel act by fat-cat landlords, pushing low-income families out into the bitter cold in the dead of winter. But what happens when the landlord is the public itself, in the form of the City of Bend, and the people being forced out already live outside? During the Feb. 5 […]

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