10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL AUGUST 30, 2017
HOMELESS
News from Lorane
Continued from A1
can be attributed to the nature of the county it-
self. It takes place over the course of one night in
January with volunteers visiting homeless shelters
and locations around the city or county known for
attracting homeless populations. The volunteers
ask individuals their ages, race and other personal
questions including how they became homeless
and if they have been diagnosed with mental ill-
ness. If individuals refuse to answer, the informa-
tion cannot be recorded. Moreover, the answers
the individuals give are not fact-checked.
Observations made by volunteers are corrobo-
rated through questions asked of the individuals
being recorded as homeless.
Myths surrounding homelessness continue to
fl ourish despite statistics like the ones present-
ed in the point in time count. According to the
data provided in the county, a larger percentage
of the homeless population suffers from mental
illness (14 percent) than addiction (12 percent).
Of those with a mental illness or addiction, 68
percent were unsheltered, rather than considered
sheltered homeless meaning they sought lodging
in places HUD defi nes as not traditional living
quarters. Individuals living in cars, on the street,
in parks and abandoned buildings are considered
to be unsheltered. To be considered sheltered, in-
dividuals must be seeking lodging in emergency
shelters, transitional shelters or otherwhise being
housed in lodgings meant for people to live in.
164 veterans were counted as homeless in
Lane County, ranking the county second behind
Multnomah—which includes Portland—and 444
homeless veterans.
For more information on the data contained in
this year's point in time count report, visit
h t t p : / / w w w. o r e g o n . g o v / o h c s / I S D /
RA/2017-Point-in-Time-Estimates-Homeless-
ness-Oregon.pdf.
Well, it is hard to believe, but school is back in
session next week. CAL School District returns
on Tuesday, September 5. Buses will run on their
normal times. For further information, call dis-
trict offi ce- 541-935-2100.
A warm welcome to all district staff. Among
them, are a few new teachers.
Mr. Steve Gillespie will teach Health and P.E.
in Crow middle/ high school plus serving as the
new Athletic Director. He has been seen volun-
teering as an announcer at the Eugene Emeralds.
Mr. Mark Heater has been hired to be the YTP
coordinator and the Agriculture Mechanic in-
structor. He has extensive mechanic experience,
loves small schools and will be the new head
football coach.
Also a warm welcome to all returning stu-
dents and any new students.
Lorane Grange meets on September 7 at 7
pm. Bingo at the Grange returns on Friday, Sep-
tember 15 with dessert at 6 pm and bingo at 6:30
pm. Talk of a potato bar in October. Look for-
ward to seeing everyone.
Crow Booster Club works for the benefi t of
all grades, K- 12 and are planning a Fall Fund-
raiser on Saturday, October 14. More information
to follow. All parents are invited and wecome to
join.
"Mystery shoppers" in CG
On Monday, August 14, Cottage Grove was being watched.
They went into businesses. They went into restaurants. They went into
cmay@cgsentinel.com
city hall.
Every interaction was documented and with the results in, it looks like
Cottage Grove gave its best, fi rst impression.
The decision was made by visitors from Oakridge, Oregon who were part of the First Impres-
sions program, paid for by a grant through Cycle Oregon. The program, which Cottage Grove
volunteered to take part in, sends residents of one community to assess another.
According to Cottage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers, the “mystery shoppers” from
Oakridge found Cottage Grove to be charming.
“They didn’t really have a lot of negative things to say,” he said. “They did say that some of the
signage directing you around town was diffi cult but they said everyone was so nice.” According
to Meyers, at a debrief session held at city hall with city offi cials, the mystery shoppers relayed a
story in which random Cottage Grove residents pulled off the road when they noticed the group
admiring a historic building. “They said the person started telling them about the history of the
building, unprompted.”
While the mystery shoppers may not have prompted the residents, Meyers sent out a notice in
his weekly Friday Update asking residents to, essentially, be on their best behavior on August 14,
warning the city of the impending visitors.
Cottage Grove is expected to visit Oakridge in the coming months while the offi cial report
from the mystery shoppers isn’t due back to Cottage Grove for weeks.
By Caitlyn May
COURTESY OF OREGON.GOV
The point in time homeless count yieled a six percent jump in individuals considered homeless between 2016 and
2017. Above, the chart illustrates the percentage of households reported as sheltered and unsheltered during this
year's count.
Ice
Cream
20-page Fall Sports Preview coming
Wednesday, September 6 in
The Sentinel
Continued from A1
the carnival games. Roberts
was joined by city manager
Richard Meyers, City Planner
Amanda Ferguson, Planning
and Development Manager
Faye Stewart, Mayor Richard
Gowing and other community
notables like Cindy Weeldryer
and Joanne Gray who volun-
teered their time to run carnival
games.
"It was a little slow at 1 p.m.,"
Weeldreyer, a former county
commissioner and current Bo-
hemia Mining Days head and
KNND volunteer. "But since
about 2 p.m. it's been a steady
fl ow of people."
The event served as an oppor-
tunity for community members
to tour the building, purchased
by the city in 2004.
"They read the headlines
about the restoration and con-
struction but they don't know
what it has to offer the commu-
nity," Roberts said.
By 3 p.m. the armory's drill
hall was fi lled with visitors
sampling the free ice cream and
playing games like ring toss and
plinko.
"It's children and adults,"
Gray said of her booth, a mini-
golf style game that awarded
winners their choice of pencils
or candy.
The armory has garnered a
lot of ink in the last six months
after accusations of improper
lead testing on the facility cir-
culated the community. It was
revealed that the city was using
over-the-counter test strips to
test for lead as it performed ren-
ovations on the building. How-
ever, both OSHA and the EPA
noted that the strips were an
adequate method of testing and
Meyers stated the city operated
under the assumption that every
surface contained lead and took
the proper precautions with li-
censed contractors.
A test conducted earlier this
year revealed an elevated lev-
el of lead in the drill hall when
compared to intial tests. The
city's stance was that the stairs
leading into the armory--paint-
ed with lead paint--were the
culprit and began renovations at
the beginning of August.
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