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Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Redmond, Oregon • $1
redmondspokesman.com
A special good morning to subscriber Ken Lawson
@redmondspox
47-unit affording housing project set to open
From a press release
Housing Works is hosting a
grand opening celebrating the
completion of Midtown Place,
a 47-unit affordable housing
apartment community de-
signed to support working
families and individuals living
in Redmond.
The event will be Wednes-
day, Feb. 23, starting at
1:30 p.m. Speakers will include
government officials and part-
ners involved in bringing this
“The city of Redmond has long recognized the relationship
between affordable housing and the growth of new
businesses and has included housing in its economic
development program.”
— David Brandt, executive director of Housing Works
development to fruition.
The $12.4 million develop-
ment, located north of down-
town Redmond at 736 NW 5th
Street, features one-, two- and
three-bedroom apartments
ABOUT THIS
SERIES
The Bulletin wants to offer in-
sight by telling their stories through
a new series, Faces of Homelessness,
and answer some of those questions.
Every two weeks this year, Bulletin
reporters will introduce readers to a
different homeless person.
The Bulletin will profile individu-
als of all kinds experiencing home-
lessness on all fronts in Central Or-
egon. Readers will meet people who
look and sound like them, and many
people who do not.
The series spawned from conver-
sations The Bulletin convened with
local service providers, advocacy
groups and elected leaders. They
shared that misconceptions some
community members hold about
people experiencing homeless are
some of the biggest barriers they face
in responding to homelessness, and
this series seeks to broaden the con-
versation.
The goal of the series isn’t to ad-
vocate for any one outcome, but to
paint a more honest picture of the
complicated reality of homelessness
in Central Oregon and shed light on
the preconceptions and misconcep-
tions about those living unhoused.
The time is right for the series: A
2021 survey from Invisible People,
a national homeless advocacy orga-
nization, found most people (70%)
surveyed think homelessness has in-
creased in their communities (and
they’re right: The homeless popula-
tion nationwide and in Central Ore-
gon has increased in recent years).
But the survey also found many
hold misconceptions about who is
actually homeless. Survey respon-
dents guessed 21% of those experi-
encing homelessness were veterans,
while the Department of Housing
and Urban Development puts that
figure at 8% nationwide. Meanwhile,
respondents guessed those under
25 made up 18% of the population,
while HUD estimates the share is
26%.
Meeting the community members
who experience homelessness won’t
“solve” the issue. But by seeing eye to
eye with the faces of homelessness,
The Bulletin hopes we can help us all
remember the people behind the is-
sues we’re discussing.
and is the first affordable hous-
ing development in Central
Oregon to include apartments
for households earning up to
80% of the area median in-
come.
These homes are designed
for active families and feature
efficient, open floorplans and
patio/deck access extending
the residents’ outdoor living
space.
Planning for the project be-
gan in 2018, working closely
with the Redmond Urban Re-
newal Agency, to transform a
long vacant lot into workforce
housing for downtown and
medical district workers.
The $12.4
million de-
velopment
is located
north of
downtown
Redmond
at 736 NW
5th St.
Submitted
photo
See Housing / P3
faces of
homelessness
MEET CENTR AL OREGON’S HOUSELESS COMMUNITY
Homelessness in Central Oregon was scarcely noticeable as recent as five years ago. Today, no one
can ignore there are hundreds of people without a house to call their home.
Who faces houselessness in Bend, Sisters, Redmond, La Pine? Who are the real people impacted by
skyrocketing housing prices, decisions about shelters or plans to sweep informal camps? Who do we mean
when we talk about those who are homeless, experiencing homelessness, unhoused or unsheltered?
BY ZACK DEMARS • The Bulletin
Heather Fluke
After closed doors,
Redmond is where she
wants to be
H
eather Fluke used to tell home-
less people to move along as
part of her job.
Working for the city of Salem’s
parks department at the time,
Fluke, now 47, wondered why the people she
cleared out of parks until 2016 didn’t just go get
jobs.
She’s had a change of heart since then. Now
homeless herself after suffering injuries, lost
jobs and scuttled plans, Fluke has come “full
circle,” spending most nights this winter at
Redmond’s Winter Shelter after returning to
Central Oregon this fall.
“You just don’t understand until you’re in
it, and I didn’t,” Fluke told The Bulletin last
week as evening temperatures approached
freezing. “I don’t know if I can put it into
words yet because I’m just in the middle of it.
It’s humbling.”
Fluke is from Salem, but this year isn’t her
first in Redmond. She lived in the city two de-
cades ago for a few years, she said.
Prior to becoming homeless, Fluke had
a job, a house and a plan — but over time,
those things fell away one by one.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Heather Fluke, 47, sits in the Redmond warming shelter at Mountain View Fellowship Church.
After she worked for the city of Salem and
just before the onset of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, Fluke had a job in merchandising for
Home Depot. It was a good job: She traveled
for work, and she could afford a new truck
and to rent a house.
Wednesday 2/2
Current Fiction Book Club: The club will be discussing “Great
Circle” by Maggie Shipstead; 1 p.m.; free; Roundabout Books,
Online; roundaboutbookshop.com or 541-306-6564.
Events in and around Redmond
The Redmond Spokesman welcomes event information for
its community calendar. Submissions are limited to nonprofit,
free and live entertainment events. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday
for the following Wednesday’s paper. Items are published on a
space-available basis and may be edited. Contact us at
news@redmondspokesman.com or fax 541-548-3203.
THursday 2/3
February Parks Advisory Committee: A regular meeting will
be held; 3:30-5 p.m.; free; Redmond City Hall, Online; redmon-
doregon.gov or 541-923-7710.
Prevent Diabetes Central Oregon: Learn techniques to pre-
vent or delay type 2 diabetes; 4-5 p.m.; free; Your Health Central
Oregon, online; yourhealthcentraloregon.org or 541-536-3435
ext.1848.
But when a novel coronavirus turned the
world upside down, it touched her life, too.
Travelling to Home Depots across the region
was suddenly much more difficult and retail
sales were suddenly much less common.
The Ballybogs: The Irish traditional music band will perform;
6-8 p.m.; free; Porter Brewing Co., 611 NE Jackpine Ct. 2, Red-
mond; porterbrewingco.com or 541-504-7959.
Songwriting Dance Party: Join local singer-songwriter Ca-
sey Hurt Thursday nights, where he creates retro pop and soul
dance tracks right on the spot; 7-10 p.m.; free; General Duffy’s
Watering Hole, 404 SW Forest Ave., Redmond; facebook.com/
Generalduffys or 541-527-4345.
FrIday 2/4
Redmond Coffee Clatter: Join for a morning of networking
and hearing about what Friends of The Children has going
on; 8:30-9:30 a.m.; free; Friends of The Children, 1258 SW Lake
See Calendar / P6
See Fluke / P3
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
INDEX
Puzzles ............. 2 Classifieds ....... 6
Flashback ........ 6
Volume 112, No. 23
USPS 778-040
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