Homeless campground nearing completion

Jun. 29—In a matter of hours, one of the worst days in Tara Johnson's life turned into one of the best.

Johnson, the executive director of The Nancy Devereaux Center, woke up Thursday eager to get started on building a campground for homeless in the community. When she arrived at the site of the campground near downtown Coos Bay, her heart sank.

After five years of discussion, nine months of planning and working to find a site and prepare it for construction, a thief had laid waste to many of the plans.

Sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday, someone cut down and stole the electrical panels that were going to provide electricity to the 24 tiny homes being built at the location.

"I left here after I saw the damage, went back to my office for about 45 minutes," she said. "Then I came back here where I was greeted by 20 people ready to unload pallets and start construction. That number of people grew to 50 in an hour. One of my employees came to me and said, 'Tara, turn around and look at everyone. All these people believe in what you're doing.'

"As much as I nearly cried tears of deep disappointment, I nearly cried tears of joy at the end of the day."

Those 50 people, almost all volunteers, came out to help The Devereaux Center construct the tiny homes that will be used to house the homeless.

John Wenbourne was one of the volunteers. He said through his schooling with Alternative Youth Activities, he has seen the need for caring for the homeless.

"I want to help the homeless community," he said. "I've seen them on the streets all the time. It was really good seeing a bunch of organizations helping. I can't thank these guys enough."

Johnson said the campground has been a dream for some time, but it took a partnership between The Devereux Center, the city of Coos Bay and ORCCA to get it done.

"This actual vision of a campground has evolved in the last nine months," Johnson said. "It's five years in the making from the standpoint of the idea."

Nine months ago, Johnson, now-Police Chief Chris Chapanar and Senior Officer Darrell Babb watched a video showcasing a homeless campground in Medford. Shortly afterward, the three visited the campground. With that information, Johnson presented an idea to the Coos Bay City Council to allow The Devereaux Center to open a campground on city property. The original idea was to have around 20 tents as well as security, case management and a manager on site. The city council supported the idea, offering The Devereaux Center land just outside the downtown area.

When Medord began installing tiny homes at its facility, Johnson also dreamed of moving from tents to more permanent tiny homes. But the cost made it hard to move forward. That's when Oregon Coast Community Action stepped in. ORCCA offered to buy the homes and pay for the first year of operations at the campground.

"ORCCA is a massive gift, and the shelters were a massive gift," Johnson said.

With the three organizations working together, the idea moved from a goal to a plan and soon a reality.

Johnson said The Devereaux Center is planning to bring in a generator to open the camp July 1. Initially, six people will move in.

"We actually have more than six, but we want to do a soft opening with the six to make sure we haven't overlooked anything," Johnson said.

In time, all 19 structures will provide a safe and secure place for the homeless to live. While there, residents must follow strict rules such as no drinking or drugs on the property, they must be home by 10 p.m. each night and they must work with a case manager and be making progress on getting back on their feet.

Johnson said she understands some in the community do not support what The Devereaux Center is doing, and, to be honest, she doesn't care.

"People need help," she said. "The people I'm dealing with can't pull themselves up by the bootstraps because they don't have bootstraps. We're giving them bootstraps."

Each tiny home at the campground will offer a safe and secure place for someone to temporarily live. The rooms will have a bed, small dresser, storage totes, windows, heater, smoke detectors, fire extinguisher along with a sleeping bag and pillow.

The rooms will have their own locks, with keys checked out each time someone leaves the campground. A bus to a from The Devereaux Center will allow people to take showers and do laundry, and The Devereaux Center will provide lunches every weekday.

Babb said the campground is a good step toward helping some of the homeless get off the street.

"I think it's a big deal for the whole community," Babb said. "I think we need to have some options, and these are a fantastic beginning. We need a way to help people who are willing to accept help. I think we need a place that's safe and secure, and this is a great option."

Johnson said The Devereaux Center will have the electric panel replaced, which will take a few days, and then have it inspected by the state. But even with the delay, she is ready to get started by offering some of the homeless a place they can call home.

"There's privacy, and it's secure," she said. "Each one has a key, so all their possessions can remain in their rooms."