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Wednesday, May 31, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sisters salutes...
• H E A RT WA R M E R S
thanked the Rickards fam-
ily, Clearwater Gallery and
The Open Door for contrib-
uting $692 from their Dine
For A Cause program last
winter.
HEARTWARMERS is a
nonprofit that makes fleece
blankets for adults and chil-
dren in crisis. They have
given away some 4,000.
“It made a huge dif-
ference to us,” said Mary
Tomjack of the Dine For
A Cause. “That’s a lot of
blankets.”
She also expressed appre-
ciation to all the diners who
came out in the middle of a
harsh winter to support Dine
For A Cause.
For more information
email hwb.hearwarmers@
gmail.com.
• Sisters Outdoor Quilt
Show (SOQS) board mem-
bers Carol Dixon and Jeff
Omodt presented the first
SOQS Arts & Design
Scholarship to Sisters
High School senior Laura
Waltosz. Board member
Myrna Dow was on hand to
present the $1,000 scholar-
ship to Waltosz at the GRO
scholarship evening.
Laura Waltosz will use
the scholarship for art sup-
plies and expenses study-
ing arts at Central Oregon
Community College. SOQS
raises funds for the scholar-
ship each year through their
Wish Upon a Card fabric
postcard auction and sale.
Business roundup...
The Nugget welcomes these new businesses…
• Aqua Hot Tubs and
Barre Studio & Boutique
have set up shop at 413 W.
Hood Ave. You will find
hot tubs (and maintenance
supplies), saunas, barbe-
cues and more. Call 541-
790-9679 for the barre class
schedule.
• Animation Art
Masters, Inc. is now open
at 161 E. Cascade Ave.,
Suite 2. They are a licensed
dealer for Disney Fine Art
and other animation art.
• Blue Pine Design
Showroom located at 411
E. Cascade Ave., offers
custom cabinets and furni-
ture by Dan Coker, who has
been designing in Central
Oregon since 2001. Watch
The Nugget for their grand
opening.
Look for these local businesses in new locations…
• Wa n d e r + N W h a s
moved its location to 200 W.
Cascade Ave. in downtown
Sisters. They offer active
women’s and children’s
apparel, swimsuits, and
accessories.
• Sisters Farmers
Market has moved to Fir
Street Park this year. The
market operates every
Friday from the beginning
of June through September,
from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
“Business roundup” provides notice of new business openings, reloca-
tions, and new ownership. If you have a submission for the column, email
editor@nuggetnews.com.
Community to discuss homelessness
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
On Monday, June 5, 5:30
p.m., at the Sisters Fire Hall
Community Room, there will
be a potluck and town hall
to hear from the Homeless
Leadership Coalition (HLC)
what their Point-in-Time
count on January 25 in Sisters
indicates regarding homeless-
ness in this community.
The coalition is holding
community town halls across
Central Oregon to present
local census results and facili-
tate discussions on the local
implications of the data. There
will also be consideration of
possible solutions to help the
homeless among us to find
safe, stable, warm homes. In
Sisters, the evening begins
with a potluck followed by the
discussion.
The count is part of a State
and national effort to identify
the number of people strug-
gling to find appropriate and
adequate housing, as well as to
provide a snapshot of home-
lessness in the United States.
Information is gathered on a
wide range of characteristics
of the homeless population
including age, gender, race,
ethnicity, veteran status, and
disability status.
“Through this data, local
agencies and programs will
be able to better target support
services and develop com-
prehensive plans to address
poverty and homelessness in
Central Oregon,” explained
Molly Taroli, PacificSource’s
CCO Project Coordinator and
HLC chairperson.
T h e n u m b e r s a r e n ’t
pretty for this year’s count.
Throughout all of Central
Oregon, a total of 778 peo-
ple, or an increase of 31 per-
cent over the 2015 count,
were homeless the evening
of January 25. Of those 778
individuals, 615 (80 percent)
are adults and 163 (20 per-
cent) are children. Those liv-
ing unsheltered numbered
548 (70 percent), a 35 percent
increase over 2015, with only
230 (30 percent) being shel-
tered. There were 83 veterans
and 68 unaccompanied youth.
“The number of people
living unsheltered should be
a wake-up call to all Central
Oregonians,” said Cody
Standiford, HLC co-chair.
“The lack of affordable hous-
ing options in our region,
exacerbated by the tight rental
market, is pushing too many
in our community out into the
cold... Many good efforts are
underway to expand afford-
able-housing options, but we
need more, and more quickly.”
Individuals and families
counted through this effort
include, in addition to those
who are unsheltered, people
living in weekly motels, shel-
ters, transitional housing,
“doubled up” with other fami-
lies, camping or sleeping in
cars, and other places not des-
ignated for human habitation.
The most reported cause
of homelessness is inability
to pay rent, and the next most
reported is unemployment. A
number of the people who uti-
lized the Sisters Cold Weather
Shelter this winter have full-
time or part-time jobs but
can’t afford to pay rent in
Sisters.
In the comparison between
the census results for 2015
and 2017, every single cat-
egory, from individuals
in a family unit to chroni-
cally homeless veterans, has
increased anywhere between
16 percent and 63 percent. All
of the increases were a harsh
reality for so many people
during a month (January)
of record snowfall and cold
temperatures.
For the first time ever, this
winter Sisters citizens oper-
ated a cold weather shelter
for the homeless during the
months of January, February,
and March. The shelter was
hosted each month by a local
church, with all food, sup-
plies, and staffing donated by
the community with generous
assistance from Shepherd’s
House Ministries in Bend.
To review the data sum-
mary from the January 2017
count or to learn how to con-
nect with agencies and efforts
in your community, visit
http://cohomeless.org.
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