Don’s Place — the only cold-weather emergency homeless shelter in Lincoln County — opened this week in Yachats

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

YACHATS – David Jones has been homeless a long time, but making it through the winters on the Oregon coast is especially tough. There’s the rain, the cold, all your personal belongings to keep track of and care for.

“I must have gone through 8-10 tents the last two years,” Jones said Thursday. “I’ve been through it all outside.”

And that’s why he appreciates Don’s Place, Lincoln County’s only cold weather emergency shelter that opened this week in the parking lot of Yachats Community Presbyterian Church. “This is the best I’ve been treated anywhere on the Oregon coast,” Jones said.

The shelters are called “Don’s Place” after Don Daugherty, a longtime Yachats homeless man who died last fall. It took just four short months to get the five shelters financed, built and opened — an unusually quick pace by a community that worried about a small homeless population fending for itself outdoors during the winter.

The all-volunteer group overseeing the shelter got the final occupancy permit Monday from Lincoln County and opened the shelter at 5 p.m. Volunteers had prepared a meal of lasagna – but no one showed up because the word hadn’t gotten out fast enough.

Sure enough, word spread quickly Tuesday and six people spent that night in the specially designed and constructed eight-by-eight foot shelters that include two single beds, heat, light and electrical outlets. Wednesday night two people spent the night out of the bitter cold.

The shelter idea came about in the fall when the state fire marshal declared the pavilion behind the Yachats Commons unsafe for overnight stays. Church pastor Bob Barrett and volunteers approached the city for financial help in November, got $70,000 and were setting up the shelters in December. It took another six weeks to hook up electricity and get the proper approvals. Lincoln County awarded the group a $20,000 grant and a Yachats resident donated $15,000 to get the project operating.

In the meantime, a 10-member “Unhoused Committee” met to establish rules and procedures and recruit 25 volunteers who help with everything from washing  sheets each morning to preparing sack meals each evening. They also asked an informal group of homeless to offer their advice – which was basically to keep it safe, clean and simple.

The shelter will be open from November through March when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures to drop below 35 degrees or when the forecast calls for rain and temperatures below 40 degrees. The open/close announcement comes between 8-10 a.m. and check ins are first-come first served between 5-7 p.m. Checkout is at 8 a.m.

There are rules against visitors, weapons of any kind and drugs or alcohol. Two volunteers split the overnight shift in the adjacent church office, staying awake to monitor for any issues.

Barrett and committee member Barbara Loza-Muriera say the first week – despite the lack of guests Monday – has gone well.

“Everybody says it’s the best night’s sleep ever,” Barrett said Thursday, a night when the shelter did not open because the weather had moderated. “One person told me it was the first time they could lock the door and sleep safe and soundly.”

There’s also other good news on the horizon.

The county has given organizers $8,000 to buy a mobile laundry truck from Grace Wins Heaven in Newport so they can do laundry on site. The group intends to remodel the truck to turn one section of it into showers, Barrett said.

Organizers are also getting two former Conestoga-styled shelters from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Waldport to use as storage areas for belongings of people spending the night.

“There’s been overwhelming support for the project,” Barrett said. “It shows how much the community cares.”