It was July of 2022 when Shepherd’s House Ministries took on a model to address homelessness that was the first of its kind in Central Oregon.

Backed by local government, the nonprofit launched the Lighthouse Navigation Center, an around-the-clock homeless shelter co-located with services and staff necessary for people to meet the challenges of living without a home.

Two years later, leaders say the project is working.

According to Shepherd’s House, the navigation center has helped 341 people get stable housing. The shelter has provided 200,000 meals, and a shelter bed on thousands of occasions.

Instead of having to traverse Bend seeking help securing housing, employment, hygiene supplies or other needs, those are available in one place.

It’s created a hub for services in Central Oregon, said Evan Hendrix, director of navigation services for Shepherd’s House. The group works with dozens of partners in Central Oregon

“This is working. We need to continue to do this and add to it,” he said. “It’s going to take more time, money, energy and resources. But it is working.”

The nonprofit, along with community partners and people who have used the shelter, celebrated two years of service at its temporary service center in Bend on Franklin Avenue, which is in use during renovations to the Lighthouse center, a few blocks south on Second Street.

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But the navigation center’s success goes beyond statistics, Hendricks said.

Noelle Kona is one example, he said. Kona, 63, has relied on Shepherd’s House shelters off and on for four years after moving to Bend from Colorado in 2018 to be with her son. She recently started working in the nonprofit’s clothing section, organizing donations and washing clothes.

Kona lived without shelter for several months at the end of 2023. When her glasses were stolen, staff at the navigation center connected her with the Lion’s Club, which provided an eye test and new glasses. When her car was stolen, a staff member helped her track it down and get it back, she said.

The center has helped her deal with addiction, she said. When she was kicked out of the Shepherd’s House shelter on Franklin Avenue for drinking, she was allowed into another Shepherd’s House shelter on that same night.

“I feel very safe here, very welcome,” she said.

Kona has been sober for eight months. Last week, when an apartment lead fell through, the shelter took her back in again.

Shepherd’s House staff helped her apply for housing recently. She’s hopeful about finding housing, but the process could take six months because of a long waitlist, she said.

“Affordable housing is nil to none here,” she said.

Though Shepherd’s House has helped hundreds of unsheltered people get housing, the problem of homelessness in Central Oregon is growing, not shrinking.

According to a count from earlier this year, more than 1,800 people are unhoused in the region, the majority of whom are living without shelter. That’s a 10% increase from last year.

However, homelessness decreased slightly in Bend and Redmond, according to the count. The problem is too complex to be solved quickly or with one solution, Hendrix said.

“This is a byproduct of systems and structures that exist in this country,” Hendrix said. “In order to change that, we’re going to need more than a project operating for two years on minimal funding.”

Bend’s four homeless shelters have served close to 1,000 individuals in 2024, according to city of Bend data. Most of the city’s shelter space comes from the two Shepherd’s House shelters — The Lighthouse Navigation Center and one on Franklin Avenue.

On average, the shelters are about 95% percent full, though they still hit full capacity at times.

The city of Bend in 2022 allocated $4 million for Shepherd’s House to start the navigation center under a three-year contract. Last year the city spent $2.6 million to help the nonprofit renovate the center on Second Street.

The project, which will add a fully functioning kitchen, showers and laundry facilities, is expected to be completed in September. The work reduced capacity at The Lighthouse to 50 beds, but that will be restored to 80 when renovations are complete.

In the meantime the nonprofit has relied on the Franklin shelter, the former Rainbow Motel acquired last year, which can host up to 100 people and prioritizes families and people with medical conditions. It also acts as a hub for services.

Shepherd’s House shelters will soon be able to host close to 200 people per night, Hendrix said.

Access to a shower will be a huge upgrade for Daniel Tweed, who is currently staying at the navigation center. He works up a sweat in his job as a cook, to which he walks each day in the summer sun.

He hopes to get into housing soon, but needs to find something affordable close to his job, he said.

“It could be worse. I could be out sleeping in the dirt,” he said.