Van Would Bring Free Services To Those in Need

By Patrick Cliff / The Bulletin
Published: July 09. 2010 4:00AM PST

REDMOND — Two local nonprofits hope to launch a new social services van that would travel to all three of Central Oregon’s counties by early next year.

With the number of homeless people up 7 percent — to about 2,400 people — in Central Oregon over 2009, according to an annual homeless count by the Homeless Leadership Coalition, backers of the plan said they are concerned about growing homelessness in the region. By bringing more social services to the region’s communities, organizers hope to make it easier for people in need to find help.

Partnership to End Poverty and Deschutes County United Way have applied to the Oregon Community Foundation for a three-year grant worth $90,000, money that would pay for some staff and equipment for the van. The award announcement should come in late summer or early fall.

Even with that funding, the van will depend on volunteers and donated time from area nonprofits and social services.

In effect, the van would be a mini and mobile version of the annual Project Homeless Connect, that offers free services to people in need.

The van would likely provide free dental and medical care, referrals to social services, and food and clothing for no charge, according to Cindy Pasko, a director at the Partnership to End Poverty. People could also receive rental and utility assistance through the program.

The annual connect program has drawn thousands of people over the years. Organizers of the van hope to find those people closer to where they live.

“Instead of asking the people that need the services to travel to Redmond to get them, we’re hoping we can bring services to their neighborhoods, if you will,” Pasko said.

Many details of the plan are yet to be worked out, Pasko said. But organizers are working to be sure that the van would not duplicate any local services.

The van, for example, would time its visits with the Mobile Dental Van instead of scrambling to find more free dental care. Pasko said organizers hope to have the van launched by March.

The van would visit Bend twice a year, and the following cities once annually: Sunriver, Madras, Redmond, Prineville, La Pine and Sisters.

“We want to complement and enhance what’s going on in the communities,” Pasko said.

But the van’s launch depends entirely on the organizations behind the plan winning the grant.

If the organizers do win the grant, the money would be spread over three years, according to Deschutes County United Way Executive Director Ken Wilhelm. After that, the organizers would have to find more money.

“They wouldn’t want to fund it indefinitely,” Wilhelm said of the Oregon Community Foundation, which is awarding the grant. “That money would give us enough stability to start the project and make it sustainable over time.”

If the van is a success, Pasko hopes that it will eventually grow beyond a single annual visit to each city. If the mobile approach grows enough, it could eventually supplant the annual Project Homeless Connect.

But the organizers need to start small to make sure the approach works, she said.

“It’s a start. Hopefully, if we start and get all the bugs worked out, we can expand to more visits,” Pasko said. “We need to have a place to start, and this is it.”

Patrick Cliff can be reached at 541-633-2161 or at pcliff@bendbulletin.com.

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