Cleveland Commons will provide 33 units of permanent supportive housing in Bend. It is scheduled to open in January. 

David Melvin Savory died on Third Street in Bend on a frigid night in November 2020.

He was a double amputee, getting around in a wheelchair, with no good place to call home. He received a burst of kindnesses in his final days. People bought him blankets. They called shelters.

But he was waitlisted. Hotels wouldn’t take him, apparently because he didn’t have valid identification.

The cold night did take him.

Maybe it wouldn’t happen today. Maybe it would.

For people who are homeless and disabled, or otherwise fit the definition of chronically homeless, Bend is going to have a breakthrough of sorts. The plan is that Cleveland Commons, the first dedicated permanent supportive housing development in Central Oregon, will open in January.

“Shepherd’s House stepping up to do the services was the breakthrough that we needed,” Lynne McConnell, executive director of Housing Works, told us.

So many organizations are involved. Housing Works, FUSE, NeighborImpact, the city of Bend, Deschutes County, Shepherd’s House Ministries, Oregon Housing and Community Services and likely more that we have unintentionally excluded.

Cleveland Commons is 33 units of housing for people who have been experiencing homelessness and fit the somewhat technical definition of chronically homeless. It’s also supportive housing. There will also be a staff member on site 24/7. There will be regular visits from medical professionals, such as from Mosaic Community Health.

The hope is that residents may be able to improve their situation enough and transition to their own long-term housing.

“The reality is some people are not going to get there,” McConnell said.

Visiting Cleveland Commons we can’t help but feel inspiration in the colorful mural artist Sarah Swoffer painted on the property. Residents may grow accustomed to it over time. Bend and Central Oregon have needed a splash of brightness, though, in the seemingly intractable struggle to improve homelessness. And that’s what Cleveland Commons will bring.