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NEWS Out Of The Junipers, a Proposed New Camp for the Unhoused
A village is in the works for unhoused people living on public lands east of Redmond
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By Jack Harvel
Bend Creative Lab
Urban and rural houselessness often don’t look the same and have different solutions. In more-urban Bend, the rising population of unhoused has inspired both great acts of compassion from houselessness advocates and drawn ire from NIMBYs who want unhoused camps out of sight and out of mind. In rural Redmond, houseless populations aren’t as acutely visible, but a growing community does exist out in the junipers.
“If you have an off-road bike, or a 4X4 or for whatever reason you’re out in the junipers, you will come across the camps, but there aren’t that many folks that go east,” said Bob Bohac, a board member and outreach director for the nonprofit Jericho Road.
The camps there aren’t like the tented and tarped ones seen in cities, and are more likely to be made up of makeshift wooden structures or RVs, but the hurdles transitioning the residents to shelters are often the same. Unhoused people are wary of leaving their belongings for too long out of fear they’ll be stolen. Shelters often don’t accept pets and high barriers to entry can exclude people who use drugs or alcohol.
To meet these needs, the Redmond Village Team was created over three years ago under the umbrella of Jericho Road, informed by the success of Rogue Retreat’s Hope Village in Jackson County, where volunteers had successfully created a village for unhoused people. The team unveiled a rough design of the proposed village on July 28.
“When we started doing this, we simply said we had to create a safe, secure environment, and that meant bringing people out of the camps,” Bohac said. “It’s a lot easier to get a person into recovery to change their habits when they aren’t anxious everyday about their safety or whether their goods will stay with them.”
The concept is called Oasis Village, and current plans consist of 10 to 12 individual single-bedroom units, a kitchen facility, a shower trailer, a restroom trailer and a lounge area on an acre-and-a-half lot.
“We’ve had situations in the past where individuals either wanted to get out or just absolutely needed to get out of the junipers, and when we tried to get them into Bethlehem [Inn, a local shelter] they couldn’t pass a blood test,” Bohac said. “Bethlehem is certainly needed. It’s high barrier, howev-
er, so there’s a good percentage of the folks out there that can’t take advantage of the temporary sheltering that Bethlehem Inn has.” Guests at the village will be able to stay anywhere from six months to two years as long as they are making progress on the goals they set in their individualized programming.
“They have to agree to make successful steps, whether it’s in terms of acquiring identification, working on an alcohol or drug problem, mental health issues and most importantly finding stable housing,” Bohac said. “And it’s sliding. If someone fails to make progress, they will be asked to leave the village. We’re trying to help those who wish to help themselves.”
Programs at the village are planned to be tailored to the individual needs of the guest, and the village will hold workshops on relevant topics like accessing social security benefits, applying and interviewing for jobs and budgeting. It will also make it easier for social services to consistently meet with clients.
“To us, that’s an essential part of what the village would be. It’s not just a physical location for folks to move out of the junipers, but even more importantly, it’s the ability to work with individuals who can help actually help them access social services much more easily,” Bohac said.
The pieces are there for the Oasis Village project. Jericho Road will source the funds, and the nonprofit has made connections with Hayden Homes and conducted a lot of consultations with Rogue Retreat; now it just needs a location. The Redmond Village Team said it has been in contact with both the City of Redmond and Deschutes County to find a suitable piece of land that’s close to needed services like grocery stores and other nonprofits, but not too close to residences that would cause a backlash.
“Especially the first time something like this comes into a community there can be a fair amount of resistance simply because it’s new,” Bohac said. “But in the end, everyone, every community that we’ve investigated, most importantly in Medford and Eugene, once the village is up and running the situation within the community with houselessness improves.”
Though nothing is set in stone yet, and no outreach has yet been done to people living east of Redmond, Bohac said once a site has been found they will hopefully be able to proceed quickly into the building process.
“Once we have that piece of property, judging from the timeframe at Opportunity Village and at Hope Village, we believe that within nine to 12 months we would be having opening week with the partners that we have right now, we would be able to proceed fairly quickly at raising funds,” Bohac said.
After being built the village could be scaled up from 10 units if Oasis Village finds there is the need and is able to successfully fund and staff the project.
“We’re looking for a piece of property that would be at least an acre and a half, so that we could build eventually to somewhere between 30-40,” Bohac said. “Once we have a tract of land, and we are ready to dedicate and start construction, then we will certainly spread the information and start talking with people who are in the junipers.”
Oasis Village renderings show the tiny bedrooms, storage and facilities for the proposed community for unhoused people.
—Bob Bohac
Noticias en Español Está en obra un sitio para personas sin hogar que viven en terrenos públicos al este de Redmond
Por Jack Harvel / Traducido por Jéssica Sánchez-Millar
Las personas sin hogar en zonas urbanas y rurales a menudo no tienen el mismo aspecto y constan de soluciones diferentes. En la zona más urbana de Bend, el aumento en la población de personas sin hogar ha inspirado grandes actos de compasión por parte de las personas que abogan por las personas sin hogar y ha suscitado la ira por parte de los simpatizantes de NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard), quienes quieren desaparecer de vista los campamentos. En la zona rural de Redmond, la población sin hogar no es tan visible, pero una comunidad creciente vive alrededor de los árboles de enebro.
Para satisfacer sus necesidades, el grupo de Redmond Village se creó hace más de tres años bajo la coordinación Jericho Road, orientado por el éxito de Rogue Retreat Hope Village en el Condado de Jackson, en donde los voluntarios habían creado con éxito una aldea para personas sin hogar. El 28 de julio, el grupo Redmond Village revelo un diseño preliminar de la aldea propuesta.
“Cuando hicimos esto, simplemente dijimos que teníamos que crear un ambiente seguro y eso significaba sacar a las personas de los campamentos,” dijo Bohac. “Es más fácil lograr que una persona se recupere para cambiar así sus hábitos al no estar ansiosa a diario con lo que respecta a su seguridad o a que si sus bienes permanecerán con la persona.”
El concepto se llama Oasis Village y los planes por el momento consisten en tener 10 a 12 habitaciones individuales con solo una cama, una cocina, un remolque con regadera, un remolque con baño y una zona de descanso en un terreno de un acre y medio.
“Hemos tenido situaciones anteriormente en donde las personas querían salir o simplemente necesitaban salir de la zona donde se localizan los enebros y cuando intentamos llevarlos a Bethlehem Inn, un albergue en la región, no pueden pasar la prueba de sangre, “dijo Bohac. “Bethlehem Inn es un albergue bastante necesario. Pide varios requisitos para ingresar, por lo que hay un alto porcentaje de personas que no pueden aprovechar del albergue temporal que provee Bethlehem Inn.”
Los huéspedes de la aldea podrán quedarse entre seis meses a dos años, siempre y cuando estén progresando junto con sus objetivos propuestos en su programa individualizado.
“Tienen que estar de acuerdo en tomar pasos exitosos, ya sea obtener una identificación, trabajar en un problema de alcohol o drogas, problemas de salud mental y lo más importante encontrar una vivienda estable,”
dijo Bohac. Si alguien no logra avanzar, se les pedirá salir de la aldea. Estamos tratando de ayudar a aquellas personas que desean ayudarse a sí mismos.”
Jericho Road obtendrá los fondos y la organización sin fines de lucro ha establecido relaciones con Hayden Homes y ha realizado consultorías con Rogue Retreat; ahora solo necesita una ubicación. El equipo de Redmond Village dijo que ha estado en contacto tanto con la ciudad de Redmond como con el Condado de Deschutes para encontrar un terreno apropiado que este cerca de los servicios necesarios como los supermercados y otras organizaciones sin fines de lucro, pero no tan cerca de las viviendas que causarían una reacción violenta.
“Estamos buscando un terreno que sea de por lo menos un acre y medio para poder construir entre 30-40,” dijo Bohac. “Una vez que tengamos trazado el lugar y estemos listos para tomar el tiempo y comenzar a construir, entonces compartiremos la información y comenzaremos a hablar con las personas que se encuentran localizadas entre los árboles de enebro.”
Emerson’s Cleared. Now What?
The City’s after-action report from the closing of a camp on Emerson Avenue could guide future closures on City-owned rights of was
By Jack Harvel
Jack Harvel
Camps, now cleared, line both sides of Emerson Avenue in Bend. On June 2, Bend City Council adopted policies that set criteria for the camp’s removal.
On June 23 the Bend Police Department, in coordination with social services agencies, closed and cleared Emerson Avenue, where 40 to 50 unhoused people were living on City rights of way, using a City policy uniquely tailored for Emerson that could guide how unhoused encampments are swept in the future. At the Bend City Council meeting approving the policy on June 2, Councilor Anthony Broadman called it a “dress rehearsal” for problems in the community, as the number of unhoused people continues to increase yearly.
At the City’s first council meeting since Emerson was cleared, service providers gave an after-action report to the Council, noting what City officials think went well and what could be improved. City leaders believe they’re on the right track in regard to cooperation with service providers who were able to communicate set timelines for the closure, make provisions and referrals for campers, assist in sorting, packing and relocating belongings in the camp and set up a station at the nearby Shepherd’s House shelter for any additional help.
“I think one of the things we really learned was the importance of clear consistent messaging, and that we were committed to a date so there wasn’t a lot of shifting of dates so that we could bring that information to folks that were living on Emerson,” said Stacey Witte, executive director of REACH, during the after-action report-out. “That was so vitally important, especially because we couldn’t offer them another place to actually move their homes.”
In its written report the City claimed that police officers on-site were calm and professional in their conduct, which Witte echoed in her comments. Others were critical of the police’s actions that day, namely Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel, who declined to prosecute any of the five people arrested by Bend PD on Emerson during the closure. Hummel wrote a letter to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz criticizing the police’s use of force in detaining camp resident Darren Hiatt for attempting to use a port-a-pottie.
“Yes, your officers were authorized to arrest him for trespassing, and when he refused their orders to stop and continued to advance toward the port-a-pottie, they were authorized to tackle him to take him into custody,” Hummel wrote. “They also had the choice to allow him to use the port-a-pottie. Unfortunately, they chose the latter.”
Hummel also criticized the police for what he saw as deliberate targeting of the Central Oregon Peacekeepers, an activist organization that provided aid for those living on Emerson and who have frequently criticized Bend PD.
“In previous conversations with you, I’ve shared my impression that your department evinces disdain towards people associated with the Peacekeepers,” Hummel wrote. “After reviewing the 62-page report of the Emerson road incident, I now consider your department to be obsessed with them.”
Krantz disagreed with Hummel’s assessment of the situation and defended officers’ actions in an email to OPB.
The City’s after-action report also detailed what City staff believe could be improved: Having lawful, permanent spaces for unhoused people, designating clear defined roles between service providers and mutual aid groups, providing improved storage systems, having funding for critical resources and service providers, allowing service providers more time than the two-weeks minimally mandated in the Emerson closure order and including a weather impact review when making decisions on closures.
“Ideally we won’t have any closures until we have more choices for where people can go because that’s really the
number one issue,” said Donna Burklo, program director at Bend Family Kitchen, at the Council meeting. “Many did use the shelter, that has been noted that the shelter numbers have gone up but not everybody is going to want to take that option.”
Service providers said since the closure of Emerson, many of the street’s residents had moved to other areas.
“I think that most of our numbers are more anecdotal. I know that we had a fair amount of people go over to Hunnel Road,” Witte said. “They have dispersed among the city, over towards railroad, canal areas and DOT [Department of Transportation] land, I do have a handful of folks that left Emerson and went down towards DRW [Deschutes River Woods] area, so they have dispersed and many have moved two, three and four times since the closure of Emerson because every time they get settled somewhere they can’t stay there.”
An Emerson evictee, Joseph Davis, was one of two deaths that occurred on Hunnel Road on June 27 along with Alonzo “Lonnie” Boardman during an unprecedented heat wave. Their deaths were suspected to be caused by the extreme heat, but the Oregon state medical examiner later reported they died of non-heat-related causes.
The administrative order that allowed the camp’s removal was targeted specifically to Emerson, and any future removals on City rights of way will have to be discussed and approved by the Council. The order also only applies to the City, and doesn’t affect other entities that can carry out camp closures.
“I think there’s a lot of confusion in the community; this is on City right of way. That policy only applies to right of way; there are many private property owners or other public agencies that adhere to other policies,” Bend City Manager Eric King said. “I just don’t want the impression that camp removals will never occur in Bend because we don’t control all that property.”
"Ideally we won’t have any closures until we have more choices for where people can go because that’s really the number one issue" —Donna Burklo
