Every two weeks in 2022, Bulletin reporters introduced readers to a different homeless person. The Faces of Homelessness series offered insight into the lives of those living houseless throughout Central Oregon. 

People living in tents, RVs and makeshift shelters among the junipers, sagebrush and dust near Redmond, forested areas outside of Bend, La Pine and Sisters, and in homeless shelters trusted The Bulletin’s reporters to share their stories. For a vulnerable population that is so often generalized, criticized and shuffled out of sight, that’s a leap. The stories told of how they became homeless, their hopes for the future and about the challenges they needed to overcome.

The series ended, but The Bulletin’s reporters are committed to continuing to tell their stories. 

As city editor Julie Johnson said, “We don’t just drop the ball on a story after we have reported it. This weekend, we are looking back on Tessy Moon, whom we profiled in Faces of Homelessness, but who remains homeless despite the outpouring of community support at the time we wrote about her.” 

In Sunday’s story by business and health reporter Suzanne Roig, she recaps the efforts: “When the community learned that Moon was unable to live in her manufactured home, about $18,000 poured in to help. Dirty Hands Construction & Septic volunteered its services to dig test holes and relocated a septic tank to help. NeighborImpact and Jerricho Road offered assistance as well.”   

Roig continues, “Sometimes, though, even when a village steps in to help, it’s not enough. That’s been Moon’s story. Every bit of forward progress has come with the kind of halting challenge that social welfare experts say is not uncommon for those trying to lift themselves out of homelessness.”

To learn more about Moon’s ongoing challenges, read The Bulletin on Sunday.  

Sunday’s story is just one example of why local news publications are vital to knowing and understanding your community. You can support our local journalism by subscribing.

Projects editor, Jody Lawrence-Turner