Locals seek to establish cold-weather shelter

Imagine, if you can, what it would be like without a roof over your head and facing a nighttime temperature in the teens. Your few belongings may be wet. That would be a challenging situation by yourself. Add a child or two to the scenario and it becomes untenable.

A group of people in Sisters has been meeting and planning how to extend Sisters' spirit of generosity by opening an emergency shelter on nights when the temperature is forecast to be 32 degrees or lower. The shelter will be open from about the time public places like the library close until morning.

This will be the first effort in Sisters to provide shelter to those who find themselves homeless in the winter. It will be known as Sisters Cold Weather Shelter. Pastor Ron Gregg of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and Lois Kaping of Westside Church are co-chairs of the group. Mandee Seeley is serving as the group's secretary.

If you are interested in helping out with logistics or materials, or are drawn to actually staffing the shelter with other volunteers, there will be a training on Monday, December 12, 4 to 6 p.m. at Westside Church, 442 Trinity Way in Sisters. Staff from The Shepherd's House in Bend will be conducting the training. It is estimated there will be a need for four overnight volunteers each night the shelter is open.

Earlier this fall there was concern for the families with children who were forced to camp in the woods due to lack of housing. The Family Action Network has been successful in finding lodging for all of the families.

For January, the focus will be on a number of homeless men camping or living in vehicles in and around Sisters. Some of these men may have addiction or mental health issues and some are simply down on their luck.

Westside Church is hoping to be able to provide the space and coordination to set up the shelter. They hope to start the shelter and run it through the month of January. In February, after all the kinks are hopefully worked out, it is hoped that another church or community space will be willing to host the shelter. The hope is that all churches in town will join the effort in some way.

In Redmond, there is a successful shelter program like the one proposed for Sisters. In that program, four churches each host the shelter for one month every winter.

Target date for opening the shelter is January 1, 2017. There is a need for shelter volunteers who will be welcoming to those coming through the door and of assistance as needed through the night. Also needed are people to make and pour coffee, help provide breakfast, and setup and cleanup. Background checks will be conducted on volunteers.

The group is looking for a place or people willing to take in animals belonging to those who come to the shelter for the night.

Kaping is beginning to gather supplies needed for the shelter, and she has a list of needed items. If you are interested in donating, she can be contacted at [email protected]

Jen Binks is working on materials to advertise the shelter, including a call-in number that people seeking shelter can call. She has also established a Facebook page for the shelter. On Facebook just type "Sisters Cold Weather Shelter" in the search box.

Items yet to be addressed include solutions for storing personal items (storage units, lockers, etc.), identifying other needs that the homeless population may have (clothes, showers), possible fundraising ventures, and deciding whether Sisters will participate in the Point in Time homeless count in January.

"All the people involved so far have their hearts in the right place," said Pastor Gregg. "Currently I am the only clergy in the group, but many of the churches have laity involved."