Uncertain future for ousted Redmond homeless campers

Roads are about to be blocked in the area hundreds of homeless people living east of Redmond call home.

“Where are we going? What are we going to do? People are really scared,” Debra Sue Smith said Wednesday.

She and roughly 200 others are being uprooted. Deschutes County, the Central Oregon Irrigation District, Redmond School District and the Bureau of Land Management own the land at the end of Antler Avenue. Squatters have come and gone there for years, but apparently have worn out their welcome.

Last month, signs were posted informing people roads would be blocked systematically, starting Aug. 15.

“There’s everything from real casual feelings to panic,” said Ken Cardwell, an administrator at Jericho Table. The organization brings water and supplies to people in the camps every Monday and is helping with this transition.

“I’m hoping that through this we’re raising awareness of the services we need here locally,” said Colleen Thomas, a homeless outreach coordinator for Deschutes County Behavioral Health. “We need low-barrier shelters. We need low-income housing.”

For many, the migration has already begun.

“Some of the calculations we’ve been talking about is maybe 35 percent of the folks have left already,” Thomas said.

Destinations the displaced are headed to are all over the board, from getting on housing waitlists, or moving to other open land, to leaving the state completely.

The land is expected to be completely cleared by Oct. 31.

“All we wanted was a safe place to lay our head, and it’s sad,” Smith said. “I know there’s other people out here that feel the same way, and I listen to them and they say they’re scared. They don’t know where to go.”

The links below contain resources to help:

http://www.jerichoroad.yolasite.com/contact-us.php

https://www.deschutes.org/health/page/community-support-services