SALEM, Ore. — A needs assessment conducted by Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and obtained by KATU through a records request revealed that thousands of shelter beds statewide are at risk of closingand some have already closed because of a lack of operation funds to pay for things like rent, staffing and utilities.
This comes as the state is spending millions of one-time general fund money allocated by lawmakers in 2023 to stand up new shelters in support of Gov. Tina Kotek'semergency homeless response plan.
OHCS is now directing $24.1 million in flexible funding that lawmakers originally allocated to support Project Turnkey's (hotel to shelter conversion) ongoing operations toward keeping those beds open or in some cases re-opening them. The funds are expected to last about eight months.
Additionally, on Tuesday, Kotek announced she will ask lawmakers this 2024 legislative session to fill a $65 million gap inshelter operation funding.
"A lot of the new money that the governor and the Legislature set aside (in 2023) was for new capacity, but that really meant that a lot of shelters that have been running for a long time didn't have the funding streams," said Shawn Collins, executive director of Unity Shelter. His nonprofit operates multiple homeless services and shelters for men and women in the Corvallis area.
In July, KATU reportedthat the Unity Men's Shelter, along with at least two other shelters in Southern Oregon, had shuttered because the nonprofits could no longer afford to pay staff. The Corvallis men's shelter lost 50 low-barrier beds when it closed.
Unity Shelter, like many others statewide, had expanded capacity thanks to (now dried up) federal funds available to the state during the pandemic.
According to emails forwarded to KATU, the day after the report was published and aired on KATU News, the community action agency that manages funds for Unity Shelter was contacted by OHCS and asked to provide more information about unmet operational needs.
In aninterview with KATU on Aug. 3, the state agency confirmed it would be assessing the financial needs of shelter operators statewide. As a result of that assessment, OHCS is now preparing to finalize grant contracts for over 50 providers across the state.
According to documents KATU obtained from OHCS, those will allow roughly 1,690 shelter beds statewide to remain operational and roughly 547 more to reopen.
Collins believes it's money that will save lives.
"I believe that shelters save lives. I will try not to choke up a little bit, but I just learned on Monday of somebody that died on the streets," he said during an interview conducted in the vacant shelter which is now preparing to re-open the first week of December thanks to the grants.
In a field just next door to the shelter, dozens are sleeping in tents as temperatures continue to dip into the 30s.
Jose Arturo Rodriguez used to be one of them before he was able to get a bed in one of Unity's shelters.
"These people here, the staff here, they definitely help out, they definitely give their support as much as they can, and it's just," he said. "I was lost when I came out here. I didn't know anything about Corvallis. They pointed me in all the right directions."
He said thanks to the nonprofit's support he now has a job working security and someday he hopes to give back.
"One day I will help volunteer here. I will be a staff member here," he said.
Timothy Isom feels the same way. He said Unity Shelter outreach volunteers offered him a bed while he was sleeping in his car in a park.
"The biggest misconception about (homelessness) is we are all a bunch of druggies, and we are homeless because we don't work. I worked for 40 years," he said. "I just don't have money for rent and things of that sort, and so it puts you in a desperate situation of trying to find normalcy."
"lose" - Google News
November 30, 2023 at 01:32PM
https://ift.tt/d5o0lcR
Oregon could lose thousands of shelter beds without ongoing operating funds - KATU
"lose" - Google News
https://ift.tt/nT5quFV https://ift.tt/emQHfCY
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Oregon could lose thousands of shelter beds without ongoing operating funds - KATU"
Post a Comment