More than $500,000 is going to projects addressing low and moderate income housing in Bend.
The Community Development Block Grant dispersed a $512,909 pot to DAWNS House, the Bethlehem Inn, J Bar J Youth Services and Kor projects.
Founder and Executive Director of DAWNS House, Dawn Holland says the grant money was unexpected.
“The grant is something that we always was unobtainable, and out of our league to be honest,” Holland said.
DAWNS (Directly Assisting Women Newly Sober) House is a grassroots non-profit offering a safe and sober living spaces for women. It received $26,000 from the grant.
“I started losing everything,” DAWNS House resident and executive manager Tammy Stokes said. “All I had was my addiction and alcoholism. I just hit rock bottom. At the end of 2018, I entered into best care as a patient for a month, then I went into a women’s recovery program right after that.”
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For Stokes, DAWNS House helped her get clean, and set a path to recovery.
“I obtained full time employment. The cleaner I got I wanted to fix things with my family. And little by little, my family, my children, my grand children all came back into my life,” said Stokes.
Holland says the money will go toward filling case worker positions in DAWNS House communal living programs.
“It’s something we’ve really really needed. We’re stretched pretty thin around here, I have a staff of five for everything that we do, including administration. Everything. So this is really huge for us,” said Holland.
Holland says the case workers will ensure that DAWNS house residents have SNAP benefits, health plans, and ways to help kids during the reunification process with their mothers.
