With generous donations and many hands, five Yachats homeless shelters rise in just hours, could open in three weeks

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews

YACHATS — Just 33 days after the City Council agreed to help pay for a homeless shelter, a giant truck backed into the rear parking lot of the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church. Just three hours after that, five shelters had walls and roofs up, almost ready to shield the homeless from winter weather.

The prefabricated units arrived Monday, thanks to the city’s allocation of $70,000 from an unused pandemic community loan fund, a $20,000 grant from Lincoln County, and another $15,000 from a private donor.

Each 8-by-8-foot shelter, with a base cost of $7,495, is heated, insulated and equipped with electrical outlets and two single beds to house one to two people. Church pastor Bob Barrett hopes to have the units open by Jan. 15 — if an electrician can be found to hook up heaters and lights.

“Electrical is one of the things that could possibly delay the opening,” he said, urging any electrical contractor who’s “willing to work with us sooner rather than later” to contact him at the church.

Safely functioning electricity is mandated by the church’s contract with Pallet, the Washington-based company that makes the shelters. Another pre-opening requirement — having trained staff in place to monitor and operate the shelters — comes from the Yachats Unhoused Committee, the local group in charge of the project.

The committee, comprised of Barrett and community members, is calling the project “Don’s Place,” in memory of Don Dougherty, the longtime Yachats homeless man who died in late October.

Ultimately, Don’s Place is intended to function as a non-profit organization. Thanks to the funding from the city, county and donations, the project has an operating budget of about $40,000. That sum is what’s paying for the monitors, who will be trained and on duty whenever the shelters are open.

“… an old-fashioned barn raising”

In addition to delivering the pallets, Pallet dispatched two experienced staffers to work with and supervise the volunteers who erected the shelters Monday afternoon. While dozens of people wanted to help, Pallet wanted the hard-hatted crew limited to eight or nine helpers to avoid “getting into each other’s way on such a small build,” Barrett said.

“It felt like an old-fashioned barn raising,” Barrett said.

Thanks to the loan of a forklift from Yachats Brewing, Barrett’s son, Zach, was able to start the process by deftly unloading the prefabricated shelters and assembly materials.

Under the guidance of Pallet employees Deakon Potts and Jake DeBoer, the volunteers immediately began setting up the components on wooden foundations built by Stephen Farish of Waldport, who also donated his time.

“This is not a permanent housing shelter,” Barrett emphasized. “It’s for emergency shelter in seasonal cold weather.”

Although anchored to the YCPC parking lot, the units can be moved as needed. Plans are for Don’s Place to operate from Nov. 1 through March 31, and to be open on any day when temperatures drop to 35 degrees or less, or 40 degrees or less and raining.

Rules, procedures coming

While policies and procedures are being nailed down, the committee intends for their use to be on a first-come, first-served basis, with preference to unhoused residents of Yachats. A core group of the unhoused have contributed to planning, and expressed interest in volunteering.

“As the project proceeds, the rules and policies will adjust as need be,” said Barrett.

After Don’s Place is opened, the pastor said he will provide the city with status reports every three months, or sooner if needed.

Until last October, up to eight of Yachats’ homeless found bad-weather shelter in the pavilion behind Yachats Commons. But that option ended when a deputy state fire marshal ordered it closed because it lacked a fire suppression system.

Each of the newly-installed pallets in the church’s west parking lot comes equipped with a smoke alarm and fire extinguisher.

The “Don’s Place” units are the same as 21 now being used in Florence by a 3-year-old group call the Emergency Cold Weather Shelter. Barrett said he’s been contacted by other cities in Oregon — and as far away as Hartford, Conn. — that are looking for practical solutions to their own homeless problems.

“Other areas are watching to see how this goes,” he said.

Support for the project has been “overwhelmingly positive,” according to Barrett, who invited residents living near the church to an information meeting recently. Asked what concerns were raised, he said, “The one I heard from some of them was, ‘Why can’t we be open more frequently?’ ” Although he has received one letter of opposition to the project, Barrett said he’s also received “countless messages of support — and money.”

“There’s a compassion and empathy here,” he said. “People knew we needed to do something.”

• Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com