The Oregon State Housing Council earlier this month awarded nearly $500,000 in grant money to a Bend nonprofit that plans to renovate a triplex to house participants in Deschutes County’s Family Drug Court Program.

The $484,999 was awarded to Bend Recovery Home, a nonprofit incorporated last year to facilitate housing for people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions, said Paul Helikson, who sits on the nonprofit’s board.

Advocates say the combination of Bend’s tight rental market and strict requirements for prospective renters make it especially difficult for many drug court participants — who have prior drug convictions — to find stable and sober housing that can aid them in making a full recovery.

According to the nonprofit’s application to the Oregon State Housing Council, 67 percent of participants are homeless when they are admitted to the drug court program.

“It’s hard for us to function and concentrate on things in our life if we don’t have a roof over our head,” Helikson said in a phone interview Friday.

The nonprofit owns a home in Redmond, but Helikson said the location wasn’t as convenient for drug court participants. Not only is the Deschutes County Circuit Court, where drug court is held every Monday, located in Bend, Helikson said, but many services for recovery and treatment are in Bend as well.

In its application for funds from the State Housing Council, Bend Recovery Home acknowledged it had limited experience in project management and no experience with housing council financing. However, the application stated, “The professional network of board members is vast, and access to other professionals with experience in leading construction development and rehabilitation projects, city ordinances, legal issues, finances, social services and other areas is readily available.”

Board members include Dan Derlacki, a deputy fire marshal at the Bend Fire Department; Gene Gammond, who works as a recovery mentor at Pfeifer & Associates; and Jvon Danforth, who owns Goody’s Chocolates.

The group plans for the home, on SE Centennial Street, to have nine bedrooms, including one for a live-in supervisor. The funding is likely to come through in March, Helikson said, and according to state documents, the total cost of the project is expected to be $486,997.

The home is one of three projects in the state this year of its grant type that qualify as “special needs group homes,” according to the State Housing Council. As part of the same funding announcement from the state housing council, the Bend group Housing Works received money for two new affordable housing projects on Bend’s east side.

Alison McIntosh, a communications liaison for the housing council, said Tuesday that both internal and external reviewers score applications for grant funding, and funding recommendations are made based on those scores. Applications are given scores in a range of categories, such as need, impact, viability and the project sponsor’s capacity, McIntosh said.

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com