'We still have a lot of people on the streets.' Eugene extends Safe Sleep sites into 2024
Eugene’s Safe Sleep sites will operate until at least the summer of 2024.
City Council voted 7-1 to extend the sunset date for the ordinance allowing the sites, which are city-funded places where people can legally sleep in vehicles, tents or other structures. So far, the open sites have served more than 350 individuals.
Officials said while it would be nice to get to a day where the spots aren’t needed, they’re necessary now to give people a place to go and, as Councilor Randy Groves put it, “help restore order to our streets and parks.”
Groves said the sites are still needed after the only person to speak during a public hearing on the ordinance last week told councilors the city needs to "stop taking full responsibility for every person who shows up on our streets."
Councilors initially approved operation of the sites until May 1, 2023, but they voted Monday night to extend that end date out to June 30, 2024. There is enough funding to sustain the sites until that date, staff said.
“We still have a lot of people on the streets here, and I’d rather they were able to sleep safely,” Councilor Emily Semple said after the public hearing.
By the end of the year, the city expects there to be 300 sites available at five approved locations.
310 Garfield: A site at approximately 310 Garfield St. opened Oct. 4, 2021 and houses up to 55 vehicles on 5 acres owned by Lane Transit District.
Chase Commons: A future neighborhood park site around 4 acres in size at the intersection of Commons Drive and South Garden Way.
Everyone Village: A 3.55-acre site just north of the intersection of Dani and Janisse streets opened in December 2021 and is a mix of vehicles and small shelters. Councilors also voted Wednesday to allow multiple groups of tents on the site.
410 Garfield: A 27,300-square-foot building at 410 Garfield St. opened Feb. 22 and has 86 tents set up inside.
Rosa Village: A future 3.3-acre site at 2243 Roosevelt Blvd., owned by SquareOne Villages, that could expand from six pallet shelters to 40 total sleeping units
Both locations on Garfield Street and Everyone Village are open. All three are full and have waitlists of at least 250 people each, according to the city's website.
Rosa Village and Chase Commons aren't yet accepting applications, but both should open later this year, staff said during a recent work session. Eugene has selected Carry It Forward as the contractor at both sites.
The sites cost the city millions of dollars to set up and run – around $8.1 million in total through July 1, 2024, according to a presentation during the work session in June.
Lane County also funds navigation and health services to the tune of $933,883. That funding is secure through the end of the upcoming fiscal year, staff said, but the city will need to coordinate with the county to continue it through the summer of 2024.
And while the city needs help to work with the county and others to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of the unhoused, councilors would be “shirking our duty as an elected body” if they didn’t do something, Councilor Matt Keating said.
Related:Safe Sleep sites, other efforts to shelter people costing Eugene 'a ton of money'
After public comment last week, he recounted seeing a woman in a dirty dress with one flip-flop on and visibly in distress crawling outside a church downtown. A local crisis response team already had been out to help her and left, Keating added.
“It’s a fundamental failing as a society that there’s a woman in our community in 2022 crawling on hands and knees with little to no help,” he said.
Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene extends Safe Sleep program until at least 2024
