Lincoln County racing to open its first emergency homeless shelters by October, but faces hurdles with staffing, locations

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

Lincoln County officials are on an aggressive timeline to set up a winter emergency shelter program for the homeless within the next two months, seeking someone to manage the effort and working with other organizations to coordinate services.

But the effort faces issues with finding the right buildings in Newport and Lincoln City to house the shelters.

As a result, the first shelter to open in Newport in October could likely be rotated through church buildings until early next year, organizers say. And, the difficulty of finding property in Lincoln City that does not impact tourist or residential areas could mean the shelter there consists of a smaller intake building with so-called “pallet shelters” nearby for sleeping.

The idea for the county’s first winter shelter program only came together in late March. Commissioners approved $400,000 last month to help set up the effort and the county is now seeking someone to run it.

Lincoln County Health & Human Services director Jayne Romero and Housing Authority of Lincoln County executive director Karen Rockwell are also trying to coordinate efforts with more than a dozen other organizations which provide some sort of emergency services to the homeless.

“This is a work in progress,” Romero said in an interview with YachatsNews. “For this to happen – and be a success – it has to be a collaborative effort.”

It is the county’s first effort at a six-month shelter program not pegged to temperatures dropping to a certain level or relying only on volunteers to run it.

Under the county’s plan, there will be an overall program manager and eight people under part-time contracts to staff the shelters when they are open 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven days a week.

Volunteers will also be needed, Romero said in a written proposal to commissioners, to help with meals, showers, recreation and other activities. And other public and private agencies will be asked to help with meal preparation, cleaning, transit, mental health and other services.

The county estimates the cost of leasing two buildings and operating for six months is nearly $600,000 — $200,000 more than commissioners allocated from remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds. Romero said she hopes to find money from sources that her department already uses (“HHS already has 300 funding streams; we’re good at this”) and seek help from local cities and service providers.

“We need to secure more funding and braid it together,” Romero said. “We don’t want to start something this year and not sustain it next year.”

In her outline to commissioners, Romero suggested that each shelter be capable of sleeping a minimum of 50 people per night, or 75 if there was just one shelter. A shelter would need to be 5,000 to 7,000 square feet in size and be able to sleep single men and women and families, have bathrooms, showers, community space, a kitchen, storage and parking.

Not first shelter attempt

The county’s winter emergency shelter is a separate and more immediate response to the homeless and housing crisis on the coast, apart from more long-term work underway by a county- and state-financed advisory group.

It is also not the county’s first foray into emergency shelters.

The county allowed Newport-area volunteers to use the exhibit hall at the county fairgrounds as an emergency shelter more than 10 years ago. That effort was taken over by Grace Wins Haven and its volunteers and moved back-and-forth between churches and the fairgrounds. In addition to the space, the county provided utilities, portable toilets and cleaning, said Commissioner Claire Hall.

Unlike the current plan, the opening of the shelter was dependent on the temperature of the weather and if there were enough volunteers to staff it.

The pandemic ended the mass emergency shelter program in 2019 so the county began providing some vouchers that could be used to rent a motel room. That effort ran into issues last February when a snow and ice storm hit the county at the same time as visitors to the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival had booked almost every room in the area.

Building search

While the county Health & Human Service’s department is figuring out staffing and services, it is relying on the expertise of the Housing Authority of Lincoln County to help find the buildings that can be retrofitted to become shelters.

Rockwell told YachatsNews there are a couple “promising” properties in Newport, but fewer in Lincoln City because of their proximity to tourist areas or residential neighborhoods.

“It’s more challenging there because there is no one building that screams out ‘This is it’,” she said. Because of that, she said, the county might have to consider creating a different shelter model in Lincoln City – maybe including the use of 8-by-8 foot pallet shelters.

Any shelter would also need the right zoning designation – likely a commercial or motel designation – and not be in a residential area, she said.

Because of the high likelihood any building would need renovations, Rockwell expects the county program to launch in October using spaces provided by willing churches. Early 2024, she said, is more realistic to have a permanent shelter up and running.

“It’s expensive out there and renovations aren’t cheap. We much as we’d like to rush to open, we want to do it right,” she said. “The whole plan is to build the capacity as a community … and make sure we find a spot that is best for the community.”

And that involvement with other organizations is the key for Romero, who previously ran a shelter in Albuquerque, N.M. She expects to gather major participants for a single meeting soon, work through different roles and determine who has the capacity and willingness to help.

“We’re still really just coming together,” Romero said. “At some point we’ll need to refine and pin down all the details. And what happens out of that will depend on what our partners can bring to the table. It’s very fluid.

“But the overall goal is keeping people alive who are unsheltered,” she said. “There is recognition of the need for long-term solutions, but we have a short-term emergency.”

• Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com