Bethlehem Inn asks Redmond City Council to help fund new shelter

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- At Tuesday evening's Redmond City Council meeting, Bethlehem Inn Executive Director Gwenn Wysling asked councilors to contribute $450,000 to their Redmond shelter project, to help with the growing homelessness problem across Central Oregon.

Wysling says they've operated a shelter in Bend for years, and have now acquired the Greenway Motel in Redmond for a new high-barrier homeless shelter through the state-funded Project Turnkey program. High-barrier means they have to pass a drug and alcohol test and not be a registered sex offenders.

Wysling added that they are looking to fill $900,000 in funding to complete the project, and if the council can contribute half of that amount, she's confident Deschutes County commissioners will match the rest.

She added that a recent 2019 study shows the homeless problem across the state needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

"They are showing that the growth of homelessness is now in double digits, and that as I mentioned was really before the challenges of the pandemic hit us," Wysling said.

The report also shows that Oregon is disproportionately impacted by homelessness.

"While we have 1.3% percent of the nation's population, we have 2.6% of the nation's homeless population," Wysling said.

Wysling says the total cost of the shelter project sits at $1.2 million, and although Project Turnkey was able to contribute $285,000 and the Bethlehem Inn raised another $15,000, they still have a long way to go to get things off the ground.

"I've talked to all three Deschutes County commissioners, and they are supportive in helping," Wysling said.

She says they also need additional funding for security cameras, fire alarms, bedding, fencing, paint, signage and a commercial kitchen, in order to be fully functional.

Later in the meeting, Councilor Clifford Evelyn proposed reviewing the city's policies and procedures related to street-closure events in downtown Redmond.

Evelyn says several business owners have expressed their frustrations for not being included with street festival-type events.

"If we're going to put on an event to serve the people that serve our community, we need to make sure we include all of them," Evelyn said.

But Councilor Krisanna Clark-Endicott says if these street events are considered private, with a permit in place, the private party has the right to include whoever they want to.

"So I'm actually confused why as a city we would want to be policing what businesses are included, and how that would even look," Clark-Endicott said.

Clark-Endicott also asked if there are certain traffic and pedestrian issues that could lead to some businesses not being involved.

"How in the world are you able to include all businesses in every event?" she asked.

Councilors voted in favor of Evelyn's proposal (4-2) to schedule a work session to review policies and procedures related to street-closure type events.