The biggest change with the recently completed Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter is arguably its new commercial kitchen.

When the shelter began in the late 1990s, meals were prepared in homes by volunteers. When it was located in an old motel building near the junction of Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 97, all meals were prepared on a four-burner stove. There was one refrigerator.

The new space allows teams of volunteers access to a professional-quality kitchen, a large stockpile of food and kitchen manager Dale Fox, who once led fine-dining kitchens in Bend and now helps volunteers plan and execute their meals.

On Wednesday, Howard Friedman was the volunteer making dinner, and the president of the shelter’s board of directors was preparing a white bean chicken chili and a potato bar.

“Not only is it easier to prepare food here — we have an amazing array of food to work with,” Friedman said.

Thursday afternoon, the ribbon will be cut on the new $9.1 million Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter. It’s going to be a chance to reflect on a successful two-year capital campaign and thank the many donors who contributed to the project, according to Gwenn Wysling, executive director.

In harder economic times, out-of-work adults could have been seen around Bethlehem Inn during business hours. But lately during weekdays, the shelter’s reportedly been fairly quiet.

But with near-full employment in Bend, finding work isn’t the biggest problem for homeless people, Wysling said.

“When we moved to this location, it was 2007, then bam, the economy took a turn for the worse and we saw a huge need when people weren’t employed,” she said. “Currently, people are working, they’re saving money, they just can’t find the needed housing.

“We have built a facility that is prepared for when that economy turns again,” she said.

The shelter began as the Bethlehem Inn Project in 1999 as an effort by local churches to provide overnight lodging for the homeless. The name came from the biblical Christmas story of Mary and Joseph, who could find “no room at the inn” in Bethlehem.

The shelter became a nonprofit in 2002, and two years later, Deschutes County granted it use of a facility on Britta Avenue. In 2007, it relocated to the former motel.

A capital campaign began in December 2017 to replace the buildings on the motel property, and many private and institutional donors contributed, the largest being the city of Bend, which gave more than $1 million.

Today, Bethlehem Inn employs 30 people and provides housing for an estimated 1,500 people per year, averaging about 146 a day.

The shelter offers a five-week program that includes basics like a safe place to sleep, three meals a day, showers and hygiene items. Beyond that, case managers help residents get stable by setting goals and connecting residents with job opportunities and other resources.

The shelter’s proximity to the DMV office next door is convenient for getting residents ID cards and driver’s licenses, Wysling said.

Since the capital project began, shelter services have been offered as they’ve come online. It was fully operational and near capacity Wednesday, when The Bulletin took a tour.

The new shelter has room for 10 families, double the previous occupancy, and there are now beds for 112 adults, or 28 more than the old shelter.

“I’d say the biggest difference is everything in the new facility works,” said facilities manager Crystal Curtis. “I like that a lot.”