Wednesday, February 13, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21
SHELTER: Some
neighbors have
expressed concerns
Continued from page 1
and their ideas for ways that
we can help increase their
confidence that they and their
families will be safe.=
The shelter is a <low-bar-
rier= shelter, which means
access to what it offers is
available to those who come.
One neighbor is concerned
about what kind of back-
ground checks or drug tests
are done on guests <to assure
safety in the neighborhood.=
Another questioned what the
shelter is doing to address the
causes of the guests9 home-
lessness and helping them get
into a better situation.
The mission of the SCWS
is to provide emergency shel-
ter during the coldest months
of the year. There is a home-
less networking group that has
been meeting monthly since
last spring to address some of
the larger issues and look for
more permanent long-term
solutions and support.
Lois Kaping, who served
as the steering committee co-
chair for the first two years
and is now the Westside
Church liaison to the shel-
ter, provided statistics for the
three years the shelter has
been in operation.
The shelter doors opened
in January 2017, the winter
of extreme cold and heavy
snowfall. Unfortunately, just
two weeks before the shelter
opened, a Sisters man who
was living in his car died
either from exposure or car-
bon monoxide poisoning.
During the first three
months of 2017, the shel-
ter provided 860 bed nights
for 44 different people and
served 1,900 meals. In the
winter of 2017-18, with the
shelter open for four months,
the shelter provided 870 bed
nights for 52 different people,
and provided 2,000 meals.
So far in 2018-19, in three
months, 43 different people
have used 653 bed nights, and
enjoyed 1,400 meals.
The shelter is expected to
be open this year through the
end of March, if a facility can
be located for the last month.
Currently, three local
churches open their doors for
the shelter: Westside Church,
Sisters Community Church,
and the Episcopal Church of
the Transfiguration. At SCC,
the shelter is housed in The
Hangar, which is located off
of McKinney Butte Road near
Sisters Christian Academy
and the Sisters Middle
School.
Therein lies the crux of
the neighbors9 concerns:
the proximity of the three
churches providing shelter
space to surrounding neigh-
borhoods and schools. The
churches were all located in
a core area around Trinity
Way a number of years ago
when that was the outskirts of
Sisters. In the ensuing years,
neighborhoods have grown
up around the churches.
The shelter operates with
a specific code of conduct
that all guests must agree to,
including arrival and depar-
ture times. There are always
two monitors onsite to meet
the needs of the guests and
ensure everyone9s comfort
and safety. To be a volun-
teer monitor, one must attend
a required training session
and submit to a background
check. The overnight moni-
tors who come on at 10:30
p.m. and stay until 7 a.m., are
paid trained employees.
Special training in mental
health <first aid= is offered
to the volunteers but, at
this time, is not required.
Questions were raised at the
meeting about such training
as well as the availability of
crisis intervention specialists.
A representative of
Deschutes County Behavioral
Health said there is a mobile
crisis team available to
respond to mental health
emergencies 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, 365
days a year to assess a client
and advocate for available
resources. The mental health
concerns are something the
steering committee will be
discussing.
There was a great deal of
support for the shelter evident
at the meeting, with people
saying they are glad to know
there9s a place for the home-
less to go, that volunteer-
ing is a great joy to serve,
and that the time spent at the
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shelter with the guests is a
positive experience. Pastor
Jerry Kaping of Westside
said that in three years time
they have not had one nega-
tive experience involving the
shelter. The community has
been supportive with mone-
tary support, volunteer hours,
meal preparation, and dona-
tions of needed supplies for
the shelter and its guests.
There were questions
regarding crime statistics as
related to the homeless and
Those who have
ideas and want to see
something happen
would be welcome.
—George Myers
Sisters in general. Lt. Ty
Rupert, watch commander
for the Deschutes County
Sheriff9s Office, reported that
in all of 2018 in Sisters, there
were five crimes commit-
ted by homeless or transient
people. Officers had a total of
seven contacts, including traf-
fic stops, four of which were
passing through Sisters.
Each month, the DCSO
provides to the City Council
the Vicinity Case Report for
the previous month. The aver-
age number of cases reported
See SHELTER on page 29
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