A homeless encampment off of China Hat Road in Bend.  

Homelessness on U.S. Forest Service land south of Bend grabbed the attention of five federal agencies and Central Oregon’s congressional delegation, which met with local leaders Thursday to discuss what can be done.

It also marked the launch of a new initiative to move people currently living unsheltered in the area into housing and prevent future bouts of homelessness. Though, what exactly that will look like — and what solutions could take shape — is unclear.

More than 30 officials, service providers and representatives talked about what solutions could exist for dealing with widespread homelessness on national forestland near China Hat Road at the meeting.

One attendee, Linda Long, was once homeless in the China Hat area, and she recommended a focus on creating a sense of ownership for people living there. Any effective solutions must acknowledge peoples’ talents, skills and individualism.

“I’m here to talk about the lesser known, the lesser understood,” Long said at the meeting. “I can tell you from personal experience how invisible you are when you are homeless.”

A balance of perspectives

The Deschutes County’s Coordinated Houseless Response Office, which is a legislatively-created countywide effort to address homelessness, hosted the nearly two-hour meeting.

It is also leading the initiative to solve homelessness near China Hat Road by convening federal, state and local agencies.

Service providers at the meeting, like J.W. Terry, executive director of Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, asked attendees to put bias aside and defer the stereotypes that wildfire, crime and drug use are the hallmarks of homelessness near China Hat Road.

However, to the people that live in nearby neighborhoods, that’s all they see.

“In the last five years or so, there has been a significant change out there,” said Sandy Baxter, a former Bend Police chief who lives in the nearby neighborhood of Woodside Ranch.

She spoke of manhunts, gunshots and exploding propane tanks, which she said she has now grown accustomed to.

The meeting was an important first step toward effective solutions, said Capt. Michael Shults, commander of the Deschutes County jail, in an email after Thursday’s meeting.

When it comes to public safety, “a balanced approach to addressing homelessness and tent encampments involves compassionate enforcement, and individual accountability,” he said.

Challenges near China Hat Road

Challenges near China Hat Road have existed for many years, Holly Jewkes, Deschutes National Forest supervisor, said at the meeting. But roughly five years ago, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, “it grew to something that has a scale, scope and intensity that we’re all feeling, and there’s a lot of emotion behind that as well,” she said.

Homelessness has increased in Central Oregon for at least the past decade, but sharp increases have occurred since 2020, according to local Point-in-Time counts.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness attended to listen and offer their input on resources that could be redirected to focus on people living on forestland near China Hat Road.

It isn’t just an issue in Bend or Central Oregon. Homelessness and housing instability have increased across the country — so much so that for every 10 people who obtain housing, 12 people lose their homes, said Katy Miller, a regional adviser with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, who visited Bend on Thursday for the meeting.

Political frustrations

Central Oregon’s congressional delegation was present at Thursday’s meeting. It included staff from the offices of Democratic U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Republican U.S. Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Cliff Bentz.

Wyden said in an emailed statement, “The ‘Oregon Way’ is all about people coming together in their communities to work on solutions to the challenges they face every day.”

He added that he is interested in hearing future ideas that both “help vulnerable people and protect our federal forests.”

Nick Strader, Bentz’s chief of staff, pushed leaders, particularly forest officials, on Bentz’s behalf on how they’re able to make progress on homelessness near China Hat Road when they can’t quantify the problem.

“We’ve been frustrated because we’ve been unable to get any data whatsoever,” Strader said at the meeting.

Some estimates put the total number of people experiencing homelessness in the China Hat area anywhere between 200 to 400 people but rough, unnavigable terrain make an accurate count difficult.

“I empathize with everybody’s frustration,” Jewkes, with the national forest, said after meeting. “I think how we come together as leaders in a unified, collaborative way is really the path forward with something that’s this challenging. Because it’s not just China Hat. It’s other locations on all different jurisdictions.”

What’s next?

As a result of Thursday’s meeting, relationships were built and possible resources were identified, but tangible solutions weren’t expressly deployed. Next is another conversation after some behind-the-scenes work, Mayor Pro Tem Megan Perkins, who is also the vice chair of the county houseless office, said after the meeting.

A lot of ground was covered in a short period of time, Terry, of Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, said after the meeting.

The outreach organization is focused mostly on ensuring people living unsheltered survive while giving them a voice in conversations like Thursday’s.

It’s easy to point to certain solutions, Terry said. He referenced one that came up during the meeting from Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, who said Bend has a number of vacant apartments.

“To find a vacancy isn’t hard,” Terry said.

But finding one that’s affordable?

“That’s a whole different ballgame,” he said.