More tiny homes to be used for managed homeless camps in Bend have arrived.
The only one problem with these units, they are sitting in a warehouse until Bend City Council decides where and if these small homes are to be put in place.
“The first ones that are coming now, they needed to get those down here and so we are taking them now,” said Treasurer of Central Oregon Villages Tom Stutheit. “The other units we’ll wait until we have a site and we can lay them all out and put them in place that way.”
Nine pallets, equaling ten small housing units were delivered.
“Basically we envisioned a central driveway, either a straight through path depending on the parcel they are on or some sort of circular path and the huts would be placed around them and spaced out accordingly,” said Stutheit.
Central Oregon Villages is modeling their vision after similar camps, like Opportunity Village in Eugene.
They report about 60% of their residents move on to permanent housing and a more stable life.
▶️ Central Oregon Villages discusses plans for Bend managed homeless camps
“The primary idea there is that the residents will have a place to sleep and they can learn a new trade or something like that, they can work with mental health if they have addictions and then work with employment people to find work,” Stutheit added.
They have the vision, the units and a nonprofit ready to go, but there’s one problem.
The city of Bend has not approved this possible village nor do they have a spot picked out.
“We believe that we will have a contract soon with the city,” said Stutheit. “They have published a schedule of when things are going to be put in place, so we are on schedule with that and committed to that and this will show the city that we are ready to put those in place and bring in the residents to live in them.”
One 8×10 unit costs around $5,000.
Ten arrived today with then more expected
Stutcheit says the units were paid for by a a federal grant of around $300,000.
