Bend’s Bethlehem Inn shelter planning expansion

The Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter in Bend is proposing an expansion. The inn recently sent a letter to neighbors notifying them of the proposal and inviting them to a meeting.

The shelter is working with a contractor to add a commercial kitchen and more family housing to the inn.

For nearly 10 years, the Bethlehem Inn has housed the homeless in a former hotel along Business Highway 97.

Residents said Wednesday the shelter has been busier than normal lately and an expansion would help meet the growing need for emergency housing.

“With the housing problems we’ve been having in Bend and with the shortage of apartments, I came back here last month to reevaluate my situation,” said one resident.

The shelter can accommodate up to about 80 adults and five families, but inn workers say that’s not enough to meet the growing need.

“Ideally, we would like to house more families. Right now, we only have the five family units,” said Executive Director Gwenn Wysling.

They would like to add a commercial kitchen. They currently rely on volunteers to bring in meals.

“We have one stove top and one oven, but our own industrial kitchen would just do wonders for the possibilities of us just being able to feed ourselves one day. It would be just wonderful,” a resident said.

To expand, the Inn will need a city conditional use permit, as well as raise the needed funding. Wysling said they are working to come up with a figure of what will be needed.

“We don’t have any of those figures and numbers yet, but we really feel it’s something the community will support,” Wysling said.

She said they are looking into grants, donations and government funds to complete the expansion. A similar mix allowed them to buy the former motel from Deschutes County for $1 million last year.

The neighbor meeting is scheduled for Friday,June 10 at 3 p.m. at the Bethlehem Inn and is open to the public.

Wysling said any expansion project would not interrupt day-to-day operations.