Michael Hancock

Bethlehem Inn, one of the region’s oldest and largest homeless shelter providers, has picked a new executive director. 

 

Michael Hancock, a case manager with Bethlehem Inn since 2019, will take the reins of the organization from longtime director Gwenn Wysling, who announced her retirement in February. Since then Hancock has been serving as the interim executive director. Bethlehem Inn’s board of directors announced Hancock as the permanent choice Monday. 

 

“Michael has proven himself to be a steady, thoughtful, and compassionate leader,” said Kevin Link, President of the Bethlehem Inn Board of Directors. “He understands the mission of Bethlehem Inn and has the experience and heart to move the organization forward.”

 

Bethlehem Inn runs a 144-bed emergency shelter in north Bend and a 30-bed transitional housing shelter in Redmond. The organization has slowly grown since it opened Central Oregon’s first homeless shelter in 2004, including a $9 million expansion completed in 2019 and a new shelter in Redmond in 2022. 

 

Hancock joined the organization around the time the expansion was completed, and shortly after had to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

“I’m proud of how our team stepped up, adapted, and grew stronger together,” Hancock said in a press release. 

 

Bethlehem Inn said in Monday’s announcement that Hancock has been “instrumental” in helping to launch the new community housing program at the Redmond facility, which aims to connect people with resources and move them into more permanent housing. Hancock brings a “rich background spanning business, education and crisis management,” according to the announcement. 

 

Bethlehem Inn requires program participants to pass a background check and refrain from using alcohol or drugs. 

 

Despite growing shelter capacity in Central Oregon, the number of unhoused people continues to rise, with more than 2,100 people counted as homeless across Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties in 2025. 

 

As local authorities enforce camping bans and close lands to camping across Central Oregon, the city of Bend and Deschutes County have created a 170-acre designated camping area north of Bend, with hopes of moving as many people as possible into shelter or housing before closing the area at the end of 2026.