Homeless in Eugene
quote:With the homeless crisis gripping the city, Eugene city officials are considering putting a temporary shelter on the vacant lot where city hall used to stand.
However, the city is still working on a land swap deal with Lane County to make the vacant space the new home of the courthouse.
KEZI spoke with Eugene resident Erin Wickersham, who thinks the shelter is is a good idea.
"It's good for the community because it cleans up the streets, and there's a lot of tents and garbage and everything, and I think it would be more beneficial for everybody if they just gave them somewhere to sleep," Wickersham said.
Officials are proposing to have a day center that would provide a space for people to be during the day, and it would be staffed with social service providers to help connect people to the services they need.
They also plan on having an overnight shelter that would be similar to their dusk to dawn program, which provides homeless people with a warm and safe place to be between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.
However, not everyone agrees with the proposal.
"I kind of liked to see them on the outside of town," Coburg resident Tony Varney, "I know that they need a place to go, and I know there's getting to be more and more homeless people, but I think on the outskirts of town would be a better choice than the middle of town."
City officials said no decision has been made, but said they will be discussing the plans in more detail during their meeting on Monday.
According to a recent study by the Technical Assistance Collaborative about 130 people become homeless each month in Lane County. The study also revealed there are more than 1,600 people experiencing homelessness in the county this year.
They are just going out of their way to draw more here.
However, the city is still working on a land swap deal with Lane County to make the vacant space the new home of the courthouse.
KEZI spoke with Eugene resident Erin Wickersham, who thinks the shelter is is a good idea.
"It's good for the community because it cleans up the streets, and there's a lot of tents and garbage and everything, and I think it would be more beneficial for everybody if they just gave them somewhere to sleep," Wickersham said.
Officials are proposing to have a day center that would provide a space for people to be during the day, and it would be staffed with social service providers to help connect people to the services they need.
They also plan on having an overnight shelter that would be similar to their dusk to dawn program, which provides homeless people with a warm and safe place to be between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.
However, not everyone agrees with the proposal.
"I kind of liked to see them on the outside of town," Coburg resident Tony Varney, "I know that they need a place to go, and I know there's getting to be more and more homeless people, but I think on the outskirts of town would be a better choice than the middle of town."
City officials said no decision has been made, but said they will be discussing the plans in more detail during their meeting on Monday.
According to a recent study by the Technical Assistance Collaborative about 130 people become homeless each month in Lane County. The study also revealed there are more than 1,600 people experiencing homelessness in the county this year.
They are just going out of their way to draw more here.
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quote:Citing growing concerns about health and safety at an encampment opposite the downtown Park Blocks, Lane County authorities are asking the homeless campers to relocate to a county-owned property near Highway 99 and Roosevelt Boulevard in west Eugene.
The temporary, alternate site will have portable restrooms, trash removal service, fencing and security, and will be close to other services, including the St. Vincent de Paul Lindholm Center, which serves three meals per day, county spokesman Devon Ashbridge said Saturday afternoon.
?It?s entirely voluntary at this point,? she said, adding that county officials had been working with camp organizers to spread the word about the opportunity for the campers to move to a better location.
?So far the response has been good,? she said. ?People are interested in seeing the site, and they also are looking for a place they see as healthier and safer.?
About 5 p.m. Saturday, some of the camp?s more than 100 residents were packing up, and a couple of county employees were helping campers move their belongings onto a couple of trailers as a bus arrived to begin taking residents to the new location.
Camp organizer Eric Jackson was guardedly optimistic about the move, saying it could take days to determine whether the new camp lived up to the promise.
However, he agreed that the new location was closer to services that many of the homeless campers need, he said. It would be up to each individual as to whether they wanted to move to the new camp, which is about two miles from the current location at the county?s so-called ?butterfly lot? at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street.
County officials said they were acting to address concerns about the health and safety of campers, as well as the camp?s effect on community members seeking access to public services downtown and on downtown property owners.
?We share the concerns of our entire community and have been working to create a solution that addresses those concerns while recognizing the complex challenges of homelessness that are faced across our community and country,? Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said in a news release issued early Saturday afternoon. ?Our focus in Lane County is on identifying solutions, working collaboratively with our partners and acting deliberately.?
Eugene Saturday Market merchant Tim Died Rich shared a corner with the camp for several weekends and had no problem with the campers. He said there had been one or two people who caused hassles but nothing that wasn?t easily handled.
?For the most part, they?ve been really nice,? he said. ?They even cleaned off the sidewalk for me this morning.?
Homeless people have been camping on public property downtown for weeks to protest the city?s stance on enforcement of its outdoor camping ban. Earlier this month, the protesters moved camp to the county-owned lot.
The protest came in the wake of a federal appeals court ruling unconstitutional a Boise law, and others like it, that criminalize homeless people for sleeping or camping on sidewalks and in public parks when they have nowhere else. The ruling requires public agencies to provide access to a non-faith-based, low barrier shelter before restricting sleeping access on public property, unless they provide an alternate location on public property ? in which case they can require homeless campers to relocate there.
Eugene has maintained that its outdoor camping ban isn?t affected by the ruling largely because it fines rather than jails violators, but last week the City Council approved a proposal to use part of the fenced former City Hall lot at Eighth Avenue and Pearl Street to provide emergency, low barrier shelter for homeless people. ?Low barrier? means that homeless people who are drunk or high won?t be turned away so long as they aren?t disruptive, but no alcohol or drug use would be allowed at the camp. It?s unknown when that camp will open.
Citing legal concerns, Lane County officials previously directed Eugene police not to disband the homeless encampment on its downtown property. By identifying an alternate site, the county may be able to require the campers to relocate.
However, Ashbridge said Saturday afternoon that the county had not issued deadlines or orders for campers to leave but instead was working to help people move voluntarily to the west Eugene location. She said the county intends to connect the campers to services at Dusk to Dawn sites operated by St. Vincent de Paul. Those sites will open over the next month and can serve more than 110 people per night, she said.
This now means where I work is surrounded on 3 sides by these camps and put use right where they will travel to and from these other sites they are talking about.0 -
Sell the property. Problem solved by the next guy. 0 -
homeless protest to get better FREEBIES..i don't give a chit about them 0 -
By their policies Oregon Democrats keep inviting more and more in the state. As long as they vote Democrat is is OK. If these people vote ,and many of them do, They can keep voting to raise your takes for the support of people like Governor Brown and the destruction of Oregon, Once a great state. Think. Why should a person who lives under a bridge be able to raise your taxes for their support. To me that is maddening.
DEMOCRATS the party of the low life.0
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