Lincoln County wraps up its second season of winter shelters for the homeless with 247 people served

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle

NEWPORT – The last night before Newport’s only shelter closed for the season, staff and volunteers looked at each other with tenderness.

Spread out in a semicircle, the group shared what the past six months have meant to them. When one staff member looks at the people who come into the shelter, he sees his brother who died on the streets. Working at Lincoln County’s winter shelter honors his memory. Another shared her experience of being homeless as a teenager.

There’s a consensus that the last six months have given them confidence and purpose. For some, even a stepping stone for other stable, full-time county jobs.

The tears are heavy, and although many volunteers and staff plan on coming back in the fall, it feels like a goodbye. Because for six months the shelter on Southwest Seventh Street in downtown Newport will be closed, and people on the street won’t have a place to stay until it’s winter again.

“Tonight is the last night, so our guests are going to be extra fragile tonight, so look at them and give them the motivation for the next six months,” said shelter manager Chantelle Estess.

This season marked the second year of the county’s winter shelter’s operation – running six months out of the year from November through April.

On the last night before the shelter closes, there are only four people using its services – and Estess says that’s a good thing.

With more time and expanding resources, the shelter gave 247 people a place to stay. Forty-two were placed into transitional housing – nearly doubling last year’s numbers.

Expanding

A framed green paper reads “Saving lives one night at a time.” It’s a gift to Estess to commemorate the shelter’s second run. The motto has guided their efforts.

Before the shelter opened in 2023, 10 people died of exposure that winter, Estess says. Since the shelter has been open, no one has died from exposure.

This year they housed Charles and his dog, Daisy. They housed Linda, who had been chronically homeless for three decades, among dozens of others. These are the examples that staff remind themselves as they prepare to close off the season.

Different from last year, there are two “navigator” positions – staff who help connect shelter guests with housing resources, mainly Phoenix Coastal Housing, Helping Hands and Nate’s Place. They can also refer people to addiction resources.

“There’s a lot of administrative trauma,” said navigator Ryan Knowles.

Unhoused people may have had promises broken by providers in the past, Knowles said, when someone doesn’t qualify for a service or a resource doesn’t pan out. There are often barriers to receiving services because people must make appointments and then follow up appointments. For someone living day to day, that’s difficult to plan.

“Sometimes the barrier is also people seeing them as humans,” Joanna Davidson said.

This year the shelter also added a volunteer doctor, who has been able to repair the often damaged relationships the homeless have with medical providers.

Dr. Paul Cauldron made bi-weekly visits and saw 58 patients. Thirty received follow-up care and there were 48 referrals to healthcare.

“My goal was to reduce the number of ER visits,” Cauldron said.

The doctor also played a role in helping patients with animals get into housing. Pets can be a barrier to housing and an emotional support letter from a doctor allows unhoused people to stay with their pets when seeking a place to live.

Lived experience

A woman at the shelter filled out her social security paperwork by hand only for it to be blown away by the wind the next day, staff member Britney Herlein said.

“I lived four years on the street without a mailbox, and so I know how that feels, how hard it is to do things without an address,” Herlein said.

All of the staff have experience with homelessness – either experiencing it themselves or someone close to them.

“Everyone that works here has a deep level of empathy,” said Colby Garner, a veteran and shelter staff member. “We are trying to show people that it’s a doorway, and if they keep going through more there are things beyond that doorway for them.”

Estess wants people to know that the shelter also provides jobs, and can be a pipeline for long-term careers. Seven staff have transitioned into long-term careers, she said. Five of those got positions working for the county.

Herlein, who worked at the shelter the first year through a temp agency, will now be employed as a full-time Lincoln County peer support specialist.

The numbers

To better understand the needs of the county and how to address service gaps, Estess takes meticulous data on the people who use the shelter.

Of the 247 people served since November, nearly half were over 50 years old, and 10 percent were veterans, Estess told the Lincoln City city council Monday night.

Most shelter guests identified as white and men. About nine percent identified as Native American, 17 identified as non-binary and two were transgender. This year they also saw an increase in Waldport families experiencing homelessness.

Most Newport shelter guests also came from Lincoln City.

As Newport opened for the winter season, Lincoln City’s shelter was forced to close to fix a fire safety issue. That meant unhoused people who needed shelter in Lincoln City were bused to Newport. Fifty-four people came from Lincoln City, 52 were from Newport and 27 came from Waldport.

By next season, the county expects to be able to use the building they purchased along U.S. HIghway 101 in Lincoln City to be up and running.

But the program needs $800,000 to continue running, and Estess is making the rounds to municipalities to garner the same funds they contributed this fiscal year. Newport and Lincoln City contributed $100,000 each.

For staff ending their first season at the shelter, it’s a little difficult to wrap their heads around the end of the services for the season.

“I guess we don’t get to help people for six months, and they have to brave this on their own,” Garner said.

Of the four people who stayed the last night of the shelter, two will be housed, Estess said. The remainder will go back to living outside, until winter when the shelter opens again.

• Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org