There are public policy changes that need to occur on federal, state and local levels. Changes needed in Douglas County to end homelessness are stopping the criminalization of homelessness and addressing the inadequate allocation of public resources.

Decriminalization

One public policy change that needs to occur is to stop the enforcement of laws that make our homeless neighbors criminals. These include anti-camping laws, exclusion zones, and closing down public spaces during certain hours.

These changes can be made at a city and county level, but a State of Oregon Homeless Bill of Rights, or Right to Rest Act, is what is needed. This would prevent local laws that are currently used to harass our homeless neighbors and make it harder for them to get off the streets.

Criminalization of the homeless cost taxpayers money that could be used to create housing to end homelessness using the Housing First model.

Public policy change that any local government can do right now is to make sure that everyone has safe places to rest, and 24-hour access to toilets.

Roseburg can create Safe Ground places for homeless people to stay TODAY! We can use public land or buildings right now to keep people from living on our riverbanks and alleys. All it takes is the city council and county commissioners to collaborate, combine funding and act NOW.

Housing First Umpqua (HFU) is currently fighting to get toilets, trash containers and needle disposal units in places where folks live outside. Providing these not only protects the dignity of those who are homeless, but also protects public health and the environment.

You can help in these efforts by signing our online sanitation petition, and, contacting the Roseburg mayor and city council members and urging them to act now, before any more human waste goes into our rivers!

Some of the founders of Housing First Umpqua (HFU) have been working on these local issues as far back as 2015, with limited results, and your help is needed to urge change.

Coordination Of Services

An effective Housing First model is dependent upon coordination of services based on an individual’s need. This type of coordination requires collaboration among housing and service providers. The way to ensure that we can make the best use of our limited resources is by everyone working together. So far, agencies and governmental entities have not been made accountable for their role in continuing homelessness. Making sure coordination, collaboration and accountability happens is a priority of Housing First Umpqua.

HFU supports the creation of a Drop-In Center where coordination of agency services will happen. Additionally, this center would provide our homeless neighbors access to showers, receive mail, wash their clothes, secure their belongings in lockers, while accessing agency services at the same place!

Housing

Addressing the current desperate need for housing solutions is going to take a concerted effort of financial resources from federal, state and local governmental entities to even reduce homelessness in our area.

A critical housing need that must be addressed as soon as possible is to get medically and mentally fragile homeless people off the streets. One way to do this is provide temporary shelter for people who are medically or mentally at risk.

We can look to our neighbors to the north for an example. Shelter Care in Eugene provides temporary shelter for people who are not eligible for hospital or rehab facility stays, but are at risk of having their medical conditions get worse because they are not being discharged to a home. We can do the same kind of thing here. There are grants we can get if people are willing to adminstrate the process or offer a facility to rent.

ShelterCare Medical Recuperation

Although the facility in Eugene is limited to those with physical medical needs, such a facility could also benefit those in our community who are in a mental health crisis and have no place to go. We cannot expect people to properly heal without stable shelter.

It is true that this is not housing but is critical shelter that people need to get better. Without it, lives are at risk.

Funding and building income-based affordable housing takes years to produce, and we are in a housing crisis. So, we must consider other types of housing can be made available more quickly, by repurposing existing vacant public buildings to create SROs and collective housing. Local nonprofits can be the lease holder on 3- and 4- bedroom rental housing units, in which shared housing can be created to get homeless folks off the streets more quickly. These can be viable short-term and long-term options for permanent places to live.  However the best solution may be to implement a block housing project.

We can do this here in Douglas County now.

Change How Housing is Funded and Built

The privatization of subsidized housing, as well as rules that are barriers to those who have been homeless for a long time, have contributed to increasing homelessness. So we must work to change public policy around how “affordable” housing is built and paid for.

This may entail change in federal housing policies, but some things can be accomplished locally.

One of those policy changes is to support our local Public Housing Authority (PHA), HADCO. The Housing Authority of Douglas County is a local public entity that runs both traditional public housing and the Section 8 voucher program here.  They have been in existence for 75 years and they are our best bet to get truly affordable housing in our community.  Because they are a public entity, we all have access to information about how our money is being spent

Changing minds and public policy toward Housing First

Part of the change in public policy needs to focus on implementing Housing First. We need to change the current policy of Housing Ready to Housing First because:

The “Housing Ready” Approach Doesn’t Work for Most and “Housing First” Can.

Housing First addresses not only homelessness, but also provides better opportunities for success when it comes to mental health and substance abuse disorders. Housing First offers the promise of both housing and health. Ending homelessness and creating a healthier community for everyone.

Seattle has allowed for BLOCK Homes, which are permitted and placed in homeowners' backyards. Learn more about the BLOCK project here: