This story was originally published on YachatsNews.com and is used with permission.
Lincoln County has started its temporary winter program for the homeless in Lincoln City even though it has been unable to find and purchase property for a permanent shelter there.
The county’s new shelter in Newport and a similar service now in Lincoln City is its first attempt to establish a walk-in shelter system for the homeless that are open seven days a week. It’s also the county’s first effort to create and operate a six-month shelter program not pegged to bad weather or relying solely on volunteers to run it.
The county is using federal funds, money from its general fund, state and federal money coming to its health department, and contributions from five cities to pay for the project for at least two years.
After using churches for a month in Newport, the county opened a shelter on Southwest Seventh Street in late November in a building purchased by the Housing Authority of Lincoln County.
But plans to purchase a building in Lincoln City fell through during inspection last month.
The county still wanted to offer shelter services in that area before the end of winter so it is contracting with a Lincoln City motel for eight rooms and can offer more rooms through its regular motel voucher system.
But unlike in Newport, it’s not as simple as a homeless person or family just showing up – they have to call first. The county is not naming the motel because it fears people just wanting to spend the night in a motel room will just go to the facility, said Ken Lipp, the county’s public information officer.
They must call 541-270-1005 the day they need a room and leave a message. Shelter staff will call back to confirm their situation and give them directions to the motel.
Lipp said all the rules in play at the Newport shelter also apply to the Lincoln City motel – except that registration at the motel is between 5-6 p.m.
“Everything is the same as the Newport shelter except the location,” Lipp said.
The county has hired four part-time employees to oversee people at the motel.
If there is demand for more than eight rooms in Lincoln City on any particular night, then staff can issue vouchers for people to stay at other motels.
Both shelter operations will run through March 31.
While it was unable to find a building in Lincoln City to purchase in 2023, housing authority director Karen Rockwell said the agency will continue looking so it can get a facility ready for next fall.
“Instead of rushing to buy something, we’ll just use motel vouchers as we have in the past,” Rockwell said. “We still have other properties we’re interested in that we’ll just move up on our list to examine more closely.”
According to statistics compiled by shelter manager Chantelle Estess, there is demand for the service in north county. Of the 127 individuals who used the Newport shelter between Oct. 3 and Dec. 31, 21 said they were from the Lincoln City area.
Other statistics gathered from people using the Newport shelter during its first three months of operation include:
- An average of 21 people used the shelter each night, many of them repeat users;
- Of the 127 individuals the first three months, 28 came from Newport, 21 from Lincoln City; 12 from Waldport, eight from Siletz, six from Yachats, five from Depoe Bay and four from Toledo. Other cities named included Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland; 15 elsewhere in Oregon and 15 people from out of state;
- 82 were male; 35 were female; seven transgender and three non-binary;
- The oldest person seeking shelter was 83 and there were five children between 1 and 17. There were 27 people between the ages of 30-39, 34 from 40-49, 36 from 50-59, 10 from 60-69 and four from 70-79;
- Out of 27 requests for housing referrals, shelter staff were able to find housing for 12;
- And, over 91 nights there were no fire or police calls to the shelter, one ambulance call, six people taken to a hospital emergency room in the morning, and seven after-hour “crisis placements,” according to the quarterly report.