Redmond’s only low-barrier homeless shelter has swelled as temperatures drop and winter looms across Central Oregon. The Shepherd’s House Redmond Center off of U.S. Highway 97 has been close to capacity for the past few weeks, hosting close to 50 people per night.

When colder weather set in around this time last year, people sleeping on the street in Redmond had no place to stay. That changed when Shepherd’s House opened its shelter part time in November, and leaders say the shelter has been successful since it transitioned to around-the-clock operations in February.

The shelter’s opening was the most recent in a wave of homeless services over the past few years in Redmond, making the city more prepared to address homelessness as this winter sets in.

“Being here is a lot better than being out in the cold, out in the dirt,” said Sean Knox. “It’s stability; it’s my sanctuary. I’m grateful for the place. I feel both privileged and humbled at the same time.”

Knox has been staying at the Shepherd’s House shelter in Redmond since late August. Knox sports a gray beard and a well-worn Oakland Athletics baseball cap, a nod to Victor French’s character in his favorite TV series “Highway to Heaven” from the 1980s.

Knox has lived in Oregon all his life. He said he was robbed while living on the streets of Portland and lost many belongings and his job. His mother, who lives in Prineville, heard about open beds at the Redmond shelter and convinced Knox to come to Central Oregon.

It’s tougher to find a job after the recent slowdown in the job market, he said. But he’s hopeful — mostly because he has shelter.

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“I’m able to shave my beard. I’m able to take a shower, put on some deodorant in order to try to get a job,” he said. “That stability is monumental to me.”

Along with a place to sleep, Shepherd’s House provides meals, case management services and help with job searching, finding medical services and housing. It’s a low-barrier shelter, meaning sobriety is not required for entry. Guests can stick around at the shelter during the day instead of returning to the streets so staff can stay connected with them.

John Lodise, director of services with the shelter, said Shepherd’s House jumped at the opportunity to set up a full time shelter on its own in Redmond after nearly 10 years running overnight cold-weather shelters four to five months out of the year in church buildings around Redmond since 2014.

“We felt like if only we could meet with these folks all the time we could really make progress with them, but it wasn’t happening because we had no way to operate here,” he said.

Since opening in November 2023, the Redmond Center has helped 98 people transition off of the streets, according to the nonprofit. Nearly 400 people have stayed at the shelter and 189 people have received case management.

The Redmond Center can sleep up to about 50 people per night at full capacity, including 24 men’s spaces, 12 women’s spaces and others for families.

By offering drop-in services and a place to sleep, the Shepherd’s House center plays a unique role in a beefed-up slate of homeless services now available in Redmond, said Erik Nelson, a housing specialist with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council. The shelter complements the Bethlehem Inn, which was converted from a motel into a high-barrier shelter and then transitional housing earlier this year; Oasis Village, which provides small individual shelters, and Mountain View Community Development’s Safe Parking Program. All came online within the last few years.

“This is the first time people have had a place to go,” Nelson said. “That is a game changer in many ways.”

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The Redmond community identified serious gaps in its homeless services and moved quickly to address them, Nelson said. Now that services are set up, the community can pause to evaluate how those services are working and decide what to do next, he said.

“That continuous improvement is what really ends homelessness in communities we’ve seen across the United States,” he said. “Here in Oregon, we’re playing catch-up. Every community is.”

Homelessness has seen sharp increases in Central Oregon in the past 10 years. According to the annual Point In Time Count, Redmond saw a decrease in homelessness from 2023 to 2024, from 262 to 169 people, though the drop could be due to natural fluctuations in data, Nelson said.