St. Vincent’s Place, new homeless village in Bend, weeks away from opening; on-site manager moving in

Choosing who will live in the 10 units is 'a hard process'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A new homeless village in southeast Bend is weeks away from opening. The on-site manager for St. Vincent's Place is moving in Saturday and the goal is to move in the first residents by mid to late October.

 After months of delays, the village is almost ready to open its doors to residents. St. Vincent's Place is located behind St. Vincent De Paul on Southeast Third Street. Eight interviews were conducted on Thursday, to determine who will live there. Five more interviews took place on Friday.

"It's a hard process," On-Site Manager Isaac Montoya said. "It's a hard decision to make. We're confident the people that we choose are going to make it through."

There are 10 units at St. Vincent's Place, which will house both men and women. Each individual will have their own address, not just a general mailbox.

Montoya said they will choose clients by seeing which 10 individuals are most likely to succeed, what their current living situation is and how the client comes across in the interview.

Montoya will be in charge of intake applications, assessments and follow-through.

"The client will have an assessment to follow, and I will follow up with those clients daily to ensure success," he said.

The assessments are general applications, but each one has specific goals tailored to the individual.

Clients will have up to two years to transfer into a more permanent housing situation.

I asked Montoya what it means to him see it all come together.

"To see it all put together and built now -- I'm getting a little emotional thinking about it," he said. "The need was there, and I was watching our community suffer."

The security systems and cameras are in place. The final touches include installing gates before people can move in.

"The need is there," he said. "I'm seeing a lot of excitement, I hope that we can take this model and share it with the world."

 Residents will be required to be on-site between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., though exceptions will be made for work. No overnight guests will be allowed.