News that services for homeless individuals in Newberg were to be cut back by one organization and delayed by another prompted the Newberg city government to open a temporary campsite on the edge of town in mid-May.
With the changing scenery of homeless and housing services in Newberg, the campsite lasted only a few weeks before being deactivated.
The roughly 350-square-foot area, enclosed by construction fencing and sporting a single portable toilet, was located at the corner of Highway 219 and Industrial Parkway, adjacent to Sportsman Airpark.
The facility’s location was dictated in part by a charter amendment adopted by voters in May 2023 that forbade locating homeless encampments within 1,000 feet of schools.
The site sat on private land after “a local landowner volunteered to allow the city to use the location as it would be a good one for re-supply and be servable from the road so that users could be safe,” City Manager Will Worthey said in an email. He added that the small size of the enclosure “seemed about right for our potential unhoused population.”
The enclosure was sited after the city received some bad news about homeless services in town.
“The activation of the campsite near (Sportsman Airpark) was necessitated by the news that the Community Wellness Collective temporary church shelter was due to cease operations at the end of June,” the city stated in a July 2 post on its Facebook page. The city was also reacting to the delayed reopening of YCAP’s homeless shelter on North College Street, which closed in March 2023 for renovations.
In a recording posted on social media, CWC officials said that due to dwindling financial resources they are trimming hours at the Northside Community Church location where they offered overnight accommodations to the homeless for more than a year. The church is transitioning to providing those services solely on the weekends now that the YCAP shelter has reopened and will house 18 to 22 individuals from evening through morning, Monday through Friday.
However, the CWC pointed out in the video that there will remain a gap between demand and what is available at the church and the shelter. While the organization can do so much to address the gap, they will be stepping up other services available to the homeless.
The CWC is partnering with 2nd Street Community Church’s drop-in center on First Street to provide job resourcing, long-term addiction recovering support, case management, peer support services and lunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Regardless, the tent campsite became unnecessary and was deactivated on July 3 following the opening of the YCAP shelter the previous day.
“The camp site was only ever going to be a stop gap until YCAP sheltering could begin and this has occurred,” Worthey said.
Worthey added that recent talks between he and Newberg-Dundee Police Chief Jeff Kosmicki on addressing local homelessness have been fruitful in directing folks to services.
“We both agree that compassionate community policing is the best approach,” he said. “Our goal is to help folks find good shelter … and try not to cite folks.”
Those talks have extended to YCAP as well.
“Recently the NDPD and YCAP have had a very positive dialog and public safety officers will now be able to guide folks to YCAP's navigation shelter by working with their management,” Worthey said.
YCAP also has the means to refer homeless individuals and families to shelter at other venues.
“A dialogue with YCAP has also recently revealed that there will be additional shelter options from YCAP, including sheltering in a local motel,” a release from the city said.
“The very real needs of folks who are unhoused must be balanced with the need of all residents to enjoy public spaces and access `the commons,’” Worthey said. “I am proud to say that this balance continues to be struck here in Newberg. As a result of this the need for the camp site has gone away and its operation has ended.”
City’s homeless ordinance bolstered by U.S. Supreme Court decision
Newberg’s homeless ordinance, titled “Camping and Public Property,” was added in fall 2023 to the city’s municipal code under “Nuisances Affecting Public Safety.” Patterned after other municipalities in the state and spurred by House Bill 3115, it benefitted from a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that determined regulating or banning camping doesn’t violate homeless individuals’ Eighth Amendment rights.
The Newberg code came about after city staff, Kosmicki and councilors began educating themselves over the course of several months via a public forum at a local church, attending meetings of the Holistic Housing Committee, meetings with YCAP officials, updates from the League of Oregon Cities and after receiving research from the law firm representing the city, Miller Nash.
“It was determined that a new course of action was required to address the problem of the unhoused having nowhere to camp if no other shelter is available, while staying in compliance with the changing legal and regulatory framework,” Worthey said at the time.
The City council voted unanimously on Oct. 2 to approve the ordinance , and it went into effect in November.
The ordinance orders that, other than in designated areas, camping is prohibited on all city of Newberg property and rights-of-way, including in parks, city parking lots, city buildings and structures; public transit shelters; stormwater treatment facilities such as swales, detention ponds and drainage ways; the Chehalem Cultural Center and adjacent property; the public library and the civic corridor.
YCAP seeks shelter volunteers
YCAP has a listing on the Just Serve website seeking volunteers for the shelter on a nightly basis from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and for three shifts to help prep and serve dinner, check in guests, sanitize the kitchen, take out the garbage, serve breakfast, make sure guests are awake and gathering belongings, general cleaning and more.
“This is a great opportunity to volunteer where you will have some free time and also get to help those in need,” the post said.
Call Sarah at 503-545-8725 or email her at newbergemergencyshelter@gmail.com for more information.
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