The Bend camping code will take effect on March 1. A little more than two weeks later, the Bend North Corridor project will shut down Hunnell Road.
The homeless people living on Hunnell Road will be cleared out for code violations and to make room for construction equipment.
Both the City of Bend and Deschutes County have promised to offer resources and support for the unhoused, but Hunnell residents say they have not seen the support they need yet.
“Go to each door and find out what people need, what kind of help they need, offer the rehab. A lot of these people want rehab,” said Stacey Ray, a woman living on Hunnell Road. “A lot of people have social security income where affordable housing would work, you know? There’s a lot of options that they could be offering, but they’re not.”
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The health and safety compliance coordinator with the City of Bend, Sherri Meisel, has had her boots on the ground giving homeless people a heads up that March is approaching.
“We work closely with service providers, REACH in particular,” said Meisel. “We’ve also had the county behavioral health outreach folks coming with us and doing ride-alongs.”
During these visits from the Deschutes County Behavioral Health ‘folks,’ they work on developing connections and offering ‘assistance’ for the upcoming move.
According to Michelle Hester, another resident on Hunnell Road, she has not seen an effort to help people move their trailers or relocate the homeless.
“They’re probably going to wait until the last moment and, you know, that’s the wrong thing to do,” said Hester.
Meisel told us she is trying to connect people to resources.
“If they tell us that they have a particular need or if they have an idea of what they want to do and just need some help getting there, we will make sure we pass that information along to the service provider,” said Meisel.
While the City of Bend has Meisel on the job, Ray said they need more help.
“They said that they were going to put up tables weekend after weekend down there and offer all kinds of help, but I have not seen anything and time’s flying,” said Ray.
Ray, who recently obtained full-time employment, is looking to leave soon.
“I’m looking for a room to share right now or a cheap rental that somebody has because I have my full-time job now,” Ray said.
