The Redmond Safe Parking Program will expand to another site at SE Seventh Street and SE Evergreen Avenue on the east side of the city after Deschutes County commissioners approved a lease of the property.

Redmond will soon have a third safe parking location for homeless residents.

On Monday, the Deschutes County Commission unanimously approved a lease of property at SE Seventh Street and SE Evergreen Avenue.

The location will allow four people to station their vehicles at the designated site for up to 90 days to sleep and live as they work to find permanent housing. Mountain View Community Development will operate it.

The program already has two locations in Redmond. One is located at Mountain View Fellowship Church on 1475 SW 35th St. while the second is at the VFW Post 4108 on 491 SW Veterans Way. With the commission’s approval of the lease, the safe parking program will start placing participants at the new location in early December.

“We’re very excited,” said Rick Russell, pastor of Mountain View Fellowship Church and organizer of the safe parking program.

This approval, supporters say, will help relieve some pressure from Central Oregon’s growing homelessness crisis.

“All the shelters in our community have waitlists,” said Johanna Johnson-Weinberg, community outreach lead for Thrive Central Oregon, a nonprofit focused on connecting individuals and families with community resources. “We have very limited options in our community.”

“Safe parking is a piece of the puzzle,” said Bob Bohac, a board member of Jericho Road. “We need more of it.”

Multiple county commissioners commented that the homelessness crisis was not getting any better and that the safe parking program was a needed resource even if local neighbors felt shut out and ignored.

Commissioner Patti Adair, a major proponent of the program, went door-to-door in the neighborhood to talk with residents of the area.

Bonnie Sullens, a homeowner who lives about a block and a half away from the proposed site, said she spoke with neighbors and businesses about the proposed site. They collected 73 signatures from homeowners and businesses opposed to the site. They contacted only two people in the neighborhood who were in favor of the proposal.

Sullens said she has family members experiencing homelessness who are living in the junipers and that she supports the safe parking program, but said the location near Seventh and Evergreen is not the right site.

“I’ve lived in that area for 57 years,” she said. “It’s not getting better. It’s worse.”

She added that they should be looking at different areas for the program such as the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, where there are paved roads, light and electrical hookups.

Adair said the program, and how people are able to graduate from the program, was incredibly important.

“We’ve got to do something about (homelessness),” said Commissioner Tony DeBone, who originally wanted to sell the property rather than lease it to the safe parking program. “This is a small step. I do apologize it’s close to your living arrangements now, but as I say, I support this as a step forward to figure out what we’re going to do.”

Russell said they were thrilled and encouraged to have the commission’s unanimous support.

Winter shelter opens

In addition to the safe parking program, Mountain View Fellowship Church and Shepherd’s House opened their winter warming shelter Tuesday, on Nov. 15.

The shelter, at 1475 SW 35th St., will be open to anyone from 6 p.m. until 7 a.m. every night until March 15. It will include a meal, showers and laundry on site.

Russell said roughly 30 people slept at the site each night last year, but that the number will likely grow this winter.

He said it is a calm environment and most people are hungry and tried and just want to sleep when they get there. But, in contrast to last year’s limited options due to COVID-19, the shelter managers will try to add more social aspects and are looking forward to more human interaction with guests.

“This is the definition of a low-barrier shelter,” he said. “They can just show up and there will be a place for them.”