NEWS
BY MORGAN THEOPHIL
HOUSING FIRST FOR HOMELESS
Advocates weigh in on a housing complex to be built near Lane County
Behavioral Health
L
ane County has announced plans for a hous-
ing complex for the homeless adjacent to the
Lane County Behavioral Health building near
Autzen Stadium. The plans follow a “hous-
ing first” model, and while Lane County has
done housing first on a small scale, according to the
county’s human services manager Steve Manela, the
new 50-unit complex would be the largest effort yet.
Housing first is an initiative to provide shelter first
and foremost for the homeless, then to go on to give
residents access to necessary treatments, services and
resources.
Manela says it is “a harm reduction model, where
folks may come in drinking or using but housing will
still be accessible to them.”
Community members and homeless advocates
have varying opinions about the plans.
Some have expressed concern that the complex
will not help locals in need but in fact bring more
homeless people to the city. Sue Sierralupe, clinic
manager of the free medical service Occupy Medical,
says she commonly hears people say, “if you build
it, they will come,” but, she says, we need to dispel
that myth.
“If you build a hospital, yes, sick people will
come, but they will come for the services and leave
healthy and well,” Sierralupe says. “The thing that is
a problem is then no longer a problem.”
Sierralupe also says that, more often than not, the
homeless in Eugene are not people who have traveled
to get here but are from Eugene originally.
“Most people that are wandering around homeless
are often wandering in the place they are born in —
you are simply offering services to people who are
your neighbors,” Sierralupe says. “And I have never
seen anything negative come from offering services.”
The complex is projected to be 35,000 square feet
and four stories tall. The first floor would have of-
fices; counseling, laundry and meeting rooms; and a
24-hour reception desk. The upper three floors would
have 50 studio-style apartments with a sleeping area,
bathroom and small kitchen.
The complex’s location near the Lane County
Public Health building also generated mixed reac-
tions, according to human rights advocate Ken Neu-
beck. Members of the homeless advocate community
are divided on the fact that the county is choosing to
build one building as opposed to many smaller com-
plexes around Lane County.
“But being right next to the Behavioral Health
building is a definite step forward,” Neubeck says.
“We just don’t have much of anything like this al-
ready, and we need something.”
Sierralupe says that, in her time working with the
homeless, having different services all in different
places is a frequent frustration. “I’ve found when
we have a piece somebody needs that’s in a differ-
ent building, it’s more difficult to get it,” Sierralupe
says. “So having everything all in one makes it more
likely that the people will get what they need, which
is what we want.”
There is a precedent for this location. From De-
cember 2014 to August 2015, Nightingale Health
Sanctuary’s rest stop for the homeless was located
near the Lane County Behavioral Health building,
the same area where the new housing complex is
projected to be.
Nightingale manager Nathan Showers says being
near the Lane County Behavioral Health building
was “definitely a benefit because of all of the services
they offered.”
“It’s a great location for this, and we are all for it,”
Showers adds. “They just need to come up with the
money first.”
As for the money, the cost of construction alone
is estimated around $8.5 million, while design, legal
fees and other “soft” costs are estimated around $3.2
million — totaling at least $11.7 million, according
to Manela.
While some have expressed dismay on social
media about the high price, Sierralupe asks, “How
can we not afford it?” The jail, she says, where many
homeless individuals frequently end up, is an ex-
tremely expensive thing.
“Having this option will help, as it’ll very liter-
ally get some of the homeless inside,” she says. “It’ll
bring more folks out of the shadows and allow them
to come out with pride, getting help to improve their
lives.”
Manela says the plans to begin building next sum-
mer are ambitious, but can happen if funding is fig-
ured out over the next few months. Lane County’s
Poverty and Homeless Board has set a goal to have
600 units for the homeless over time, he adds.
“This is our cornerstone project — we hope this
project succeeds, and is followed by many more proj-
ects,” Manela says. “This can make a difference in
our community.”
• Seeing our name in the New York Times doesn’t happen
every day. In fact, we’re not sure Eugene Weekly has ever been
mentioned in the Gray Lady until this week, when NYT classical
music writer Michael Cooper credited us for breaking the story of
the Oregon Bach Festival’s firing of Matthew Halls. His extensive
piece, “A Firing and a Question of Race Roil the Oregon Bach
Festival” (Sept. 18), laid out the whole messy business, from
Halls’ mysterious termination on Aug. 24 through the spurious
Reginald Mobley “racism” incident to the meaningless
explanations from the University of Oregon. It concluded with
music world doubts about the 47-year-old festival’s future..
• You may remember Eugene fashionista Marjorie Taylor’s
spectacular “Lucky in Love” ball gown, a crowd favorite in the last-
ever Mayor’s Art Show in 2015. It’s among 103 finalists from around
the world for an international fashion award this week in New
Zealand. The gown, along with Taylor, who owns Velvet Edge
Boutique in Fifth Street Market and is a psychology prof at the
University of Oregon, and her husband, UO economics prof (and
gadfly blogger) Bill Harbaugh, is in Wellington for the World of
WearableArt awards. Crafted from 160 decks of recycled Las Vegas
casino playing cards, the dress was entered in the recycled category.
Winners in the Sept. 20 judging take home up to $30,000 in New
Zealand dollars and will be in a fall exhibition in the World of
WearableArt and Classic Cars museum in nearby Nelson.
• It was quite a jolt to see UO Emeritus Professor George Wickes
of Eugene in the opening segment of The Vietnam War by Ken
Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS. An agent in the Office of Strategic
Services (the precursor to the CIA), Wickes was what the UO public
relations office called a “spy” in that terrible conflict so well
documented in this series. He taught English at the UO over five
decades. If you can bear it, watch the last half of the 18-hour
documentary next week. It is so well done and so depressing.
• You can tear down those signs, folks Lane Transit’s EmX
expansion into west Eugene is here. The bus rapid transit route had
its kickoff Sept. 17 and passengers can now catch the green buses
(EmX stands for Emerald Express) and head out the West 6th, West
7th and West 11th corridors. Eugene and Springfield are growing,
and while we encourage the area to grow up, not out, mass transit
helps manage traffic and fight global warming causing greenhouse
gases.
• ’80s night is back! In downtown news, we hear that the
owners of The Starlight Lounge and Luckey’s Club have just
purchased the former Sidelines Grill and Sports Bar at 77 W.
Broadway. The venue used to be John Henry’s and when it was sold,
downtown lost part of its nightlife. (And we missed the sticky floors,
late night ’80s dancing as well as GLAM night, burlesque and some
decent bands.) The news owners announced on Facebook that it’s
now called The Drake Bar and they are “rebranding it to focus more
on the dancing and nightlife.”
2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016
BEST HANGOVER BREAKFAST
13 STRAIGHT YEARS!
BREAKFAST ALL DAY
1689 Willamette | 541-343-1542
Espresso Hours
7am - 5pm Mon - Fri • 8am - 5pm Sat & Sun
see our full menu online: brailseugene.com
or
SECOND
LOCATION!
5TH & LAWRENCE
fro
featuring
ld
beads
7am - 2pm Mon - Fri • 7am - 3pm Sat & Sun
m
a ro
und the
w
2833 Willamette • (541) 683-5903
www.harlequinbeads.com
eugeneweekly.com • September 21, 2017
9