More Safe Sleep sites to open this summer as Eugene considers extending program
City-funded sites give people somewhere to sleep legally
As Eugene’s homelessness crisis worsens, the city is creating more places where people can legally sleep
Megan Banta, Wochit
Eugene officials voted to move forward with plans to extend the end date for Safe Sleep sites as two more are set to open this summer.
Safe Sleep sites, which are city-funded places where people can legally sleep in vehicles, tents or other structures, have served more than 350 individuals so far, staff told the City Council during a work session.
Councilors initially approved operation of the sites until May 1, 2023, and voted 7-1 Wednesday to hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would extend that sunset date. Staff have recommended pushing it out to July 1, 2024.
By the end of the year, she said, the city expects there to be 300 sites available at five approved locations.
- 310 Garfield: A site at approximately 310 Garfield St. opened Oct. 4 and houses up to 55 vehicles on 5 acres owned by Lane Transit District.
- Chase Commons: A future neighborhood park site around 4 acres in size at the intersection of Commons Drive and South Garden Way.
- Everyone Village: A 3.55-acre site just north of the intersection of Dani and Janisse streets opened in December and is a mix of vehicles and small shelters. Councilors also voted Wednesday to allow multiple groups of tents on the site.
- 410 Garfield: A 27,300-square-foot building at 410 Garfield St. opened Feb. 22 and has 86 tents set up inside.
- Rosa Village: A future 3.3-acre site at 2243 Roosevelt Blvd., owned by SquareOne Villages, that could expand from six pallet shelters to 40 total sleeping units
Both locations on Garfield Street and Everyone Village are open. All three are full with waitlists of at least 250 people each, according to the city’s website.
Peter Chavannes, the city’s homeless systems policy manager, said he thinks some people likely are on multiple wait lists.
“People are trying to get into shelter wherever they can,” he said.
Rosa Village and Chase Commons aren’t yet accepting applications, but both should open later this year, staff said. Eugene has selected Carry It Forward as the contractor at both sites.
Residents have seen success at the sites, Watjus said, including better health and wellbeing. There have been limited exits to permanent housing, she said, but it’s “too early to offer a meaningful evaluation” for those numbers since county-funded navigation and health services aren’t yet in place at all the sites.
“The services are really important,” Watjus said. “Without those, especially in our housing market, we would expect housing outcomes to be limited at this point.”
It’s clear that while there have been successes at the sites, there aren’t enough, Councilor Alan Zelenka said.
He also expressed concerns about the cost, given that the city is using one-time funding to set up and pay for operation of the sites.
“This is expensive stuff to do, and we don’t have enough funding to do it all,” Zelenka said. “And, more importantly, we don’t have a dedicated source of ongoing, dedicated funding that we really need to make it sustainable.”
Related:Safe Sleep sites, other efforts to shelter people costing Eugene ‘a ton of money’
Chavannes presented slides showing the sites cost $3.73 million to operate annually and the city expects to spend $595,000 on development at the soon-to-open sites.
According to the presentation, development and operational expenses through July 1, 2024 will cost $8.1 million.
Lane County also funds navigation and health services to the tune of $933,883. That funding is secure through the end of the upcoming fiscal year, Chavannes said, but the city would need to coordinate with the county to continue it through the summer of 2024 if Eugene officials push back the sunset date for the Safe Sleep sites.
Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.