City Council Members voted against accepting funds for homeless shelter!

City Council members voted against accepting funds from the state for the long-term operation of a 24-hour homeless shelter at 2200 Ashland Street. "I think we have to have a strategic plan in place and then look for the funding to help the unhoused population in our area," councilmember Gina DuQuenne said.

The $1.8 million in state funding would have gone towards renovations to get the city’s shelter up to fire code standards to operate 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

“We do need additional services, additional beds, affordable housing,” Melissa Markos, the lead staff for the Jackson County CoC said. “Going forward, we're just going to continue with our community partners and keep planning and looking at our data."

Both Ashland Ore., Mayor Tonya Graham and Council member DuQuenne echoed concern that the city accepting these funds would take away from organizations around Jackson County like Opportunities for Housing, Resources & Assistance and ACCESS, that are dedicated to ending homelessness in the region.

"We will get multiple applications in," Markos said. "Then a rating and rank committee goes through to rank the applications based on a scoring metric."

The CoC says that the $1.8 million that would have gone towards renovations for the Ashland shelter should still be available for organizations through Jackson County as part of the state's funding efforts. In the most recent order from Governor Kotek, even more funding will be available to combat homelessness in the county.

City Council refuses funds for homeless shelterPhoto byKDRV