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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 29 SHELTER: Steering committee met with public Continued from page 21 each month is around 30, some months more, some months fewer. Cases include things like nuisance dogs, assault, driving while sus- pended, burglary, possession of a controlled substance, theft, DUII, robbery, felon in possession of a firearm, and neighbor disputes. Reports of major crimes like murder, rape, and arson are almost non-existent. Thirty cases a month amounts to well over 300 a year. That makes the seven cases involving a transient or homeless person less than one percent of all cases reported. Sharlene Weed, executive director of Sisters Habitat for Humanity, asked, <Please can the sheriff distinguish between transients and home- less? Some homeless live here permanently. Transients are passing through. Correct?= An employee from the Shepherd9s House shelter in Redmond spoke about their experience operating their shelter. He said that when shelter guests are able to make connections with the monitors and trust is built, they come to see the shelter as a safe place with positive people. <The more contact there is, the safer it is for everyone,= he told the audience. The church is safer because the guests view it as a place of comfort and to be respected, he indicated. The guests are safer because they are off the streets and out of freezing temperatures. The community is safer because guests are not out on the street doing drugs, hurting them- selves, or committing crimi- nal activities like breaking in somewhere to find shelter from the cold or shoplifting food. The point was made that sometimes when a person is suffering, the only way to get help is to harm himself, like the man in January. Self-harm is often a cry for help. Chairman of the group, George Myers of Sisters, offered, <Those who have ideas and want to see some- thing happen would be wel- come.= Myers can be con- tacted at george@gwmyers. com. There was an inquiry regarding what the City Council could do to support a shelter, possibly helping find alternate locations. Other con- cerns raised were about more garbage in the neighborhood, guests lingering in the church parking lots after leaving the shelter in the morning, and are the guests being enabled to remain homeless by pro- viding them shelter. <Beginning at our next steering committee meet- ing, we are definitely going to prioritize the neighbors9 concerns as to what we can immediately take care of, what can be done later, and PHOTO BY GARY MILLER items beyond our jurisdic- Over 100 community members filled the Sisters Fire Hall last week for tion and mission,= co-chair a meeting convened by the Sisters Cold Weather Shelter to provide Eidsmoe said. information to the public and hear neighbors’ concerns. Co-chair Shuler added, Shuler indicated she <At this point, information and generalizations following had only spoken with a few about operations and deci- the January incident. <In communicating with guests. <They expressed sions will be posted on our Facebook page and sent out some of our shelter guests, sadness, concerns for their via email to our mailing list. they were concerned with the safety, and concerns about We will also consider plac- negativity from that one inci- their acceptance as part of ing information on the Sisters dent. They understood some the community. They go to Community Watch Facebook of that negativity, but mainly work, church, local events, page if folks desire. We will worried that they would be and patronize local busi- certainly provide updates more disliked and more apt to nesses and they are worried to The Nugget and ask that not be welcome in some busi- they will be viewed or judged negatively or unfairly.= information be shared with nesses.= Eidsmoe reported. the community. The steer- ing committee is open to any other means of commu- nication that the community would like. Anyone who pro- vided us with contact infor- mation will be added to our mailing list and if contact was requested, one of us will be in touch with them.= The shelter guests have been impacted by the neigh- bors9 concerns, comments, Ready For Spring Builds... SQUAW CREEK CANYON RECREATIONAL ESTATES Sold Sold BLM 920 Bond St., Ste. 200, Bend Sold MLS#201811465 Build your dream home in this CC&R protected neighborhood just 10 minutes from Sisters. Paved street, utilities stubbed to each lot. No manufactured homes or horses. 541-390-4961 Shannon Mathisen, Broker 541-948-5067 Listed by: Patrick Trowbridge, Broker TEE HARBOR CONSTRUCTION WILL BUILD TO SUIT! TeeHarborConstruction.com • 541-504-8883 3 32 70 Sold N Sold Sold Longhorn Dr. 2.5-acre lots from $130,000-$180,000 8 35 70 Rawhide Dr. Sold 8 33 70 8 31 70 8 28 70 Sold Spur Dr. Sold 3 20 70 3 18 70 3 16 70 Sold Sold 8 18 70 8 16 70 Buffalo Dr.
