NeighborImpact buys La Pine building, saves local warming shelter
Central Oregon—Thanks to grant funding provided by Oregon Housing and Community Services and NeighborImpact, The Door warming shelter in La Pine will continue to provide shelter beds and expand services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The shelter building, which has been leased and operated by The Door church for the last eight years, was at risk of closing when the building owner listed the property for sale. While The Door was given the first opportunity to purchase the building, the price was beyond what the church could afford. That’s where NeighborImpact stepped in to ensure that services to the homeless would continue without interruption.
Using funds provided by Oregon Housing and Community Services, NeighborImpact purchased the building and offered a lease to The Door, charging just $1 per year. In return, the church has agreed to utilize the building exclusively as a resource center for homeless services and warming shelter for a minimum of ten years.
“I’m thrilled NeighborImpact was able to act swiftly to be responsive to community needs.” said Andrea Bell, OHCS Director of Housing Stabilization. “For those experiencing homelessness, freezing temperatures can be especially dangerous. It’s great news that this warming shelter will continue providing these vital services for the La Pine community.”
“Warming shelter operations is important to us,” said Chad Carpenter, Lead Pastor at The Door. “If someone else had purchased it, the warming shelter wouldn’t have been able to continue.”
Currently, the shelter offers food distributions and provides coats, blankets, hats and gloves year-round to those experiencing homelessness. Shelter staff refer guests to other appropriate services, including healthcare, transit, public benefits including Social Security and Disability, food banks, energy assistance, access to computers services and access to mail pick up. In the near future, the shelter plans to begin offering showers and haircuts and to renovate the building to include a commercial kitchen with hopes of expanding food distributions. During the cold weather season, December to March, the shelter will offer T ten overnight beds to men, women, families and their dogs.
“As time goes on, more opportunities will present itself,” said Carpenter. “We want to utilize that building more than just the winter months.”
Carpenter expressed his gratitude to NeighborImpact for enabling shelter operations to continue.
“For us as a church, it’s important to us to have some kind of a contribution to the community–a way that we can help people that need help. That’s an important part of what we do as a church. There’s a need for it and the community seems to be pretty compelled by it, so we would have been disappointed if that were not able to continue because the building had been sold out from under us.”
Homelessness is a growing problem in Central Oregon, especially in smaller communities where there are less available services. The number of homeless increased 10 percent from January 2019 to January 2020, based on the annual point in time count. While 2021 numbers have yet to be released, preliminary indications are that the increase will be even greater, reflecting the ongoing twin impacts of escalation in housing prices and the COVID19 pandemic.
About NeighborImpact: NeighborImpact is a private non-profit governed by a board of directors drawn from across the community. Since 1985, NeighborImpact has led the region in developing solutions and bringing resources to Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. We help meet the basic needs of Central Oregonians, build economic security and create a community where everyone thrives. NeighborImpact receives federal, state and local grants, foundation grants and donations from individuals and businesses in our community. To learn more about NeighborImpact please visit www.neighborimpact.org.
Media Contact: Rachel Haakenson, Communications Director, 503-206-2423, rachelh@neighborimpact.org
# # #