Peek inside Salem's first homeless navigation center
After years of searching for funding and renovating a former office building, Salem's first navigation center is set to open in May.
An estimated 1,800 people are homeless in the region. The number of people living outdoors has continued to climb even as shelter beds have been added in recent years.
Starting in late May, the navigation center will add 75 critically-needed beds to the stock of low-barrier shelter spaces.
The purpose of a navigation center is to provide stabilization: sleep, meals, mental health services, help getting documents in order and housing assistance. It is not intended to be a permanent place to live but instead to assist individuals in transitioning to somewhere more permanent.
"Low-barrier shelters are instrumental in solving this crisis, and we’ve been impatiently waiting for this to open,” Mayor Chris Hoy said. “Before long, these 75 beds will be filled with folks who were previously on the streets. Imagine the difference this shelter will make in their lives.”
He called the center was a "crown jewel" among the new projects designed to help end homelessness.
How it works
At a preview tour at the site on 1185 22nd St. SE, city leaders and advocates walked through the bright, airy center — now a far cry from the dark office building it was a few months before.
Local advocates have highlighted the acute need for mental health care, transitional housing and low-barrier shelters that allow pets and couples and don't demand sobriety or participation in religious programs.
Ashley Hamilton, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency chief programming officer, said the program is different from other services available in Salem.
Whereas traditional shelter models require sobriety upon entry, segregate by gender and offer limited space for personal possessions or service animals, the navigation center allows all genders, pets and does not require sobriety for entry.
City officials said the center will also help reduce pressure on existing cooling and warming sites as it expands capacity throughout the hottest days and during the cold winter months.
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Navigation centers have shown success in helping people exit homelessness, advocates said. The city looked to established centers like those in Seattle and Merced County, California.
The center will be managed and staffed 24 hours a day with a curfew. People won't be lined up outside to use the services, and many neighbors might not even realize it has the capacity to shelter 75 people.
Salem’s Navigation Center will work in partnership with the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency.
The agency will draw from a region's coordinated entry list to decide who can stay at the shelter. They will also take referrals from agencies helping people exiting from the criminal justice system.
What's inside
The city and Woodburn Construction used the agency's experience working with people in crisis to inform the design of the center.
A de-escalation room is right off the entrance to help those in a heightened emotional state re-center and calm down. A bed bug sauna will sanitize people's belongings as they move into the shelter.
A commercial kitchen will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a larger day room will give participants space for activities like art therapy, a computer station and companion service animal therapy.
The site includes laundry services, showers and bathrooms, and a dog run.
Hamilton said each bed in the sleeping space at the center has lockable storage, and separate rooms are available for light sleepers, people with sleep apnea and those traumatized by congregate shelter environments.
Past the sleeping room is an entire wing devoted to behavioral health services.
People can get behavioral health therapy, group therapy, connect to substance use treatment, enroll in the Oregon Health Plan and get medical help. A secondary entrance to the behavioral health side of the center means people can continue getting treatment after they move on from the shelter.
Who paid for it?
Talk of opening a navigation center has been ongoing for several years among city leaders and advocates.
A combination of federal, state and county funds finally made the project possible.
The funding sources for the purchase of the property, construction and operation of the Navigation Center include $3 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act, $3 million from Marion County, $1.9 million from the Oregon Legislature for construction and $5 million from the Oregon Legislature for two years of operation and construction contingency.
Eugene's recently opened River Avenue Navigation Center offers 75 beds along with services. It, too, was created with the bulk of the funding coming from the Oregon State Legislature and the federal government.
Take a tour
Salem and community partners will celebrate the launch of the Salem Navigation Center with an open house event at 8 a.m. April 24.
Members of the public are welcome.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem's first ever homeless navigation center opens doors
