Bill PoehlerSalem Statesman Journal
Both times Church at the Park has proposed microshelters for temporary shelters for houseless people in Polk County, the Salem-based organization has faced significant community push back.
So they’re ditching the microshelter proposal and planning temporary shelters in Dallas and Monmouth.
Church at the Park is now proposing to repurpose a house in Dallas and former classrooms in Monmouth for temporary shelters.
The organization will have to get several approvals and remodel the buildings, but if everything goes according to their timeline, the shelters would open in the fall.
“I feel maybe too optimistic, but I feel very optimistic compared to last year,” said DJ Vincent, founding pastor and chief executive officer of Church at the Park, which provides emergency shelter and resource connections to people experiencing homelessness.
Original temporary shelter proposals in Polk County
After Gov. Tina Kotek’s state of emergency declaration about homelessness in 2023, the Oregon Legislature earmarked $155 million for rehousing people.
Of that, about $1.5 million was allocated by the Mid-Willamette Homeless Alliance for emergency shelter for rural Polk County.
In May 2023, Christ’s Church Methodist and Presbyterian United expressed interest in microshelters that could house up to 40 people at a time on its property in Monmouth, and had meetings with Church at the Park.
Christ’s Church backed away from the proposal in July.
“We came into that so naive in the very first go in Monmouth,” Vincent said.
A month later, Church at the Park found a home on Holman Avenue in Dallas to accommodate microshelter trailers.
It purchased the location in September and in January applied to the city to use the location for a microshelter site under a 2023 state law that is designed to make it easier for siting temporary shelters for the homeless.
After the city said it would require sidewalks and road widening to accommodate the expected influx of traffic and consulting with state leaders, Vincent said Church in the Park decided to re-examine the proposal.
“That was a very helpful and clear message to us and look at not what we want to do, but what’s possible,” he said.
Dallas shelter to serve families
As of March 29, there were 53 people, including 30 minors, in 19 families in rural Polk County sleeping in cars, on streets or parks, according to the county's Family and Community Outreach.
Church at the Park opted to focus on the vacant home in Dallas to help families. The 1,600 square foot, four-bedroom home on Holman Avenue hasn’t been lived in for years and is in need of significant work.
The plan involves tearing down the house to the studs and redoing pretty much everything.
“It might be not recognizable compared to how it looks today,” Vincent said, adding plans include dividing the home into four to six rooms, one each for different families.
“It would be family focused,” Church at the Park operations manager Josh Erickson said. “Originally we were talking about 40 people on one site, and now we’re talking about a lot less.”
Vincent said that pre-application materials should be submitted to Dallas as early as this month.
“We’ve been having the full force of an architecture firm and a land-use attorney trying to look at this to be bulletproof when we submit it so we don’t run into drama,” he said.
Monmouth shelter for medically vulnerable, older adults
After the changes to the Dallas project, there was money left over.
Vincent said he was approached after a public meeting to talk with a Monmouth-area real estate agent who owns the former English Language & Culture Institute on Stadium Drive directly across from the football field at Western Oregon University.
Church at the Park has signed a lease for the property and preliminary plans are to divide it into living space for up for 14 people.
The Monmouth location will be targeted for older individuals who are medically vulnerable.
Church at the Park has met with Monmouth city staff and is doing a pre-application walk-through on June 5, to get technical feedback on its application.
Outreach helps quell concerns
Vincent said Church at the Park has spent the past year developing relationships with people and groups in Dallas and Monmouth and recently held neighborhood meetings with people who live around the sites.
It also held a series of online meetings to present information and answer questions.
So far no one has brought forward issues to the city councils in Dallas or Monmouth.
Church at the Park staff said both sites will be applied for under House Bill 3395, which makes it harder for local governments to block homeless shelters.
According to Church at the Park's current timeline, the renovation of the Dallas house will take place over the summer, and it should be open by mid-September. Renovation of the Monmouth site will take place starting in August, and it should be opened for people in October.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
