Some parents of children who attend Buckingham Elementary School east of Bend are worried about a proposal to house a veterans outreach center on the same street as the school. Yet the proposed center is hardly next door, and in any case, plans for what would be offered there and how it would be run should allay the fears of all but the most timorous.

Central Oregon Veterans Outreach hopes to persuade the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District to allow it to take over the old fire station at the intersection of Hamby and Neff roads, east of the city. COVO would operate an outreach center in the building, providing everything from a place for veterans to meet and share their experiences to a small number of transitional housing units. A certified service officer would work out of the building, helping veterans discover what they’re entitled to and then obtain it.

It’s the transitional housing piece of the plan that has parents particularly worried. They fear that veterans with emotional and substance abuse problems will take up residence in the building, putting their children at risk.

If the experience of those who operate other facilities is any indication, their fears are misplaced. “Transitional housing” does not mean “homeless shelter,” for one thing, and COVO officials will, as do similar agencies, require any residents there to be clean and sober if they hope to stay. Moreover, those officials say, potential residents will be required to go through a criminal background check and attend treatment programs if they’re needed.

Buckingham parents should, if they’re worried, talk to folks near Cascade Youth and Family Services on NW 14th Street in Bend. CYFS operates the Loft there, which provides both shelter for homeless kids and a program to transition them into stable housing. The neighborhood is far more densely populated than the one COVO hopes to move into, and yet neighbors have had no problems with the young men and women who live there.

Park district officials plan to take up COVO’s request March 21. Meanwhile, as part of their research into the matter they might wish to drive past the old fire hall and note its distance – more than a quarter of a mile – from Buckingham Elementary School and the sparse population of the area. It’s difficult to do that and talk to COVO and come away with a sense that an outreach facility will somehow endanger children.