Bend homeless shelter may get grant

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 7, 2015

The nonprofit agency that operates the Bethlehem Inn is closer to owning outright the former Bend motel it leases from Deschutes County as a homeless shelter.

The Oregon State Housing Council could vote by March on a $200,000 grant to the Bethlehem Inn. It would be the final piece of a $1.013 million purchase price the county set last year. The council was scheduled to vote on the grant Friday, but not enough members were present to decide the issue. The vote could be held before the council’s next regular meeting in March, according to the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department.

“The funds are helping us to reach the goal of ultimately owning the property,” said Bethlehem Inn Executive Director Gwenn Wysling. “The end result was always for the Bethlehem Inn to own and operate this shelter as a nonprofit.”

The 36-room former Econo Lodge at 3705 N. U.S. Highway 97 provides space for 78 individuals and five families. Bethlehem Inn has operated there since 2007.

The grant, actually a forgivable loan, comes from the General Housing Account Program created by the Legislature to provide housing for low- and very low-income Oregonians. The Bethlehem Inn has already collected $300,000 from the city of Bend, a $500,000 loan from the Bank of the Cascades and added $13,549 of its own to meet the county’s asking price. The county, until recently, wanted to recoup the $2.5 million it paid for the building, plus another $250,000 to connect it to the city sewer.

In June, Deschutes County commissioners agreed to accept the appraised value of the property, about $1 million, and write off the remaining $1.7 million.

“That is not easy to do,” said Commissioner Tammy Baney, who is also a State Housing Council member. “But the benefit to the community outweighed the discussion over should we or should we not.”

Baney abstained from the Housing Council vote Friday. She said she expects the council to approve the grant. “The votes are there because the need certainly is there,” she said.

Once the payment is made, Bethlehem Inn will be one step short of owning the property. Beth Shelter LLC, a new entity formed by the Central Oregon public housing authority, Housing Works, will take temporary ownership.

Tom Kemper, Housing Works executive director, said Bethlehem Inn directors plan on applying for another $500,000 grant from Business Oregon. While such grants may be used to purchase property, they cannot pay off a loan, Kemper said. And Deschutes County, which must be a co-applicant with Bethlehem Inn, cannot benefit from the grant directly.

Housing Works provides a degree of separation. If successful, the Bethlehem Inn would pay Housing Works for the property with the Business Oregon grant, Kemper said. Housing Works would then pay off the Bank of the Cascades loan.

“It’s a little odd, but it works,” he said, “and it gives (Bethlehem Inn) the opportunity to get this money.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com