After hearing from the community, St. Vincent de Paul is withdrawing its proposal for a Youth House on Bethel School District Property.
Last week the Bethel School District and St. Vincent de Paul hosted a “listening session,” where over 100 neighbors to the property made comments on their concerns with the project. St. Vinnie’s has since begun searching for a new location in the Bethel School District, Eugene or Springfield.
Paul Neville is with St. Vincent de Paul and says the original site was questionable because of wetland conditions. This uncertainty is what led to the community listening sessions.
“It was a deep, intensive, and informative. After going to those sessions we decided that the level of concern by residents over the process and the location was such that we needed to start again and look for another location.”
The youth house would provide up to two years of support for homeless teen boys, which includes free housing and casework. St. Vinnie's opened a youth house for homeless and unaccompanied teen girls last February in South Eugene.
