Lane County Health and Human Services has opened a new emergency homeless shelter in Glenwood. It’s located in a building that was once an African American church. The new shelter is named for the late Reverend Arthur Shankle and his wife Luvenia, who founded the Bethel Temple Church in the early 1960’s.
At a time when people of color faced overt racism and opposition simply to exist in Oregon, the Shankles created a sanctuary for the Black community. At Thursday’s dedication ceremony for the Shankle Brooklyn Street Shelter, speakers shared how the pastor’s legacy continues.
That last voice was Lane County’s Jason Davis. We also heard from the current pastor of Bethel Temple Faith Ministries, Quentin Reynolds, a formerly homeless community member Phillip Rosenburg and Michelle Shankle Brown.
This audio postcard was produced by KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert.
