Eugene to close Washington Jefferson Park in a month as third Safe Sleep site opens
Washington Jefferson Park will close in a month, the city of Eugene announced in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
For about a year, the park served as a city-sanctioned place for unhoused people to stay. With the closure of Washington Jefferson Park, there will be no sanctioned camps in Eugene.
The city also announced its newest Safe Sleep site — a city-funded site where people can legally stay while having access to services — will open Tuesday, Feb. 22. The new site will have 86 indoor heated spaces.
These spaces are reserved for recognized occupants of Washington Jefferson Park, according to the release. Everyone living in the park will have to find a new place to live by March 16.
As of Friday, Feb. 11, 78 recognized camp spaces were counted by the city. Officials could not provide an estimate of how many people resided in these spaces Wednesday afternoon.
Recognized residents of the camp are people "who have been remaining in compliance with the temporary camp criteria who are in gridded camp spaces," said Kelly McIver, a spokesperson for the city's homelessness response.
In the fall, camps in WJ Park were put into a grid system, which made it easier for the city to formally track who resided in the park and to create more space for COVID-19 precautions, McIver said.
Activists have raised concern that recognized residents have been steadily whittled down by the city to 78 sites. In January, there were 102 campsites in the park.
Over the past year many people have tried to move into WJ Park, but new campsites have been barred since April 2021.
On March 16, the park will be fenced off for restoration and then reopened for normal park use in the future.
City now has three Safe Sleep sites
As of January, 3,136 people were experiencing homelessness in Eugene.
The opening of the city's third Safe Sleep site means there will soon be about 200 Safe Sleep spots for people experiencing homelessness to legally shelter in.
Throughout Lane County, there are 358 drop-in shelter beds, 397 alternative shelter beds, 583 emergency shelter beds and 4,003 people experiencing homelessness, as of January.
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County will operate the new Safe Sleep site at 410 Garfield St. The organization is not able to accommodate pets at the site, so recognized residents of the WJ Park with pets will have the option to move to Everyone Village, another Safe Sleep site. The city provided materials and tents for the new dwellings at Everyone Village.
Learn more: Founders of Eugene shelter Everyone Village talk about its inception
City providing moving assistance
Printed information about the Safe Sleep site and the future of WJ Park will be handed out to all the recognized park residents starting this week, according to the city.
City staff will provide transportation and moving assistance to 410 Garfield St. to those who request it. Anyone who wishes to move to the new site can start on Tuesday, Feb. 22. City and St. Vincent de Paul staff will be available at WJ Park to sign people up and to answer questions for those considering the option.
The amenities at the 410 Garfield St. Safe Sleep site include:
Each camp space is provided a mat, tent (8'x8'x8' canopy-style), sleeping pad and bag, two 38-gallon storage containers for personal items, one 18-gallon container for perishables, a radiator-style electric heater, chair and side table
Restrooms, access to water, garbage service
One meal provided on-site daily
Shower trailer on-site
Laundry vouchers
Indoor and outdoor gathering areas
On-site access to medical and social services
Public transportation near the site
Bike racks available
How condoned camping evolved in pandemic
WJ Park became a sanctioned place to camp about a year ago when the city shifted its camping policy to temporarily allow people to camp in city parks, as long as campers followed a set of rules.
More: A year later, Eugene allows people who are homeless to camp in policy, but not in practice
The change came in the wake of public pressure after the city removed at least 100 people living beside the Interstate 105 bridge near the Whiteaker neighborhood with no alternatives to offer and discarded all belongings that remained. The decision drew attention and criticism, as it bucked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that encourages local governments to allow people to stay in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
The city's website still says it has "temporarily adjusted its enforcement process around prohibited camping in order to help people experiencing homelessness to stay in place and reduce the potential for infectious disease spread."
McIver confirmed the camping policy remains in place.
"People can camp in the places that are not spelled out to be not OK if they're following the practices that are outlined on the website," McIver said.
More on Egan Warming Centers: When nights are wet and cold, where can those with no home go in Lane County?
Information posted online about the city's temporary urban camping policy has been moved from a page entitled "Temporary Urban Camping" to a page entitled "Report Concerns." The page outlines the many rules urban campers must follow, including not disturbing vegetation or camping in neighborhood parks.
Homelessness service providers such as crisis response team CAHOOTS have brought up to the city that the lack of sanctioned campsites has made it difficult to know where people can go without facing removal. Those whose mental health precludes them from living in congregate shelter and those with behavioral issues who have been banned from shelter programs are left with few options.
Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene to close Washington Jefferson Park in a month
