City plans to pull funding from safe parking, warming shelters

Every night, hundreds of people in the Salem area sleep in their cars.

There’s always a waitlist for Church at the Park’s Safe Parking Program, which offers a place for car campers to shower, get food and meet with a case manager to sign up for health care and connect with housing. They then have a designated place at a local church to park and sleep through the night without fearing they’ll be asked to move by a business owner or police officer. Many head off to responsibilities like work in the morning.

Safe Parking is among the city’s proposed cuts to homeless services this year as city officials cut back support for such assistance amid a city budget deficit.

The city’s annual contribution to warming shelters that open during freezing weather would also stop this year under the proposed budget.

The city’s cuts to sheltering total $410,000 in the coming year.

That’s left organizers turning to the state and community in search of new funding to help keep unsheltered people safe from the elements. 

As part of the cuts, the city of Salem is clearing out Church at the Park’s day center at 2640 Portland Rd. N.E. which offers showers, a mailing address and case management for the car campers. The city plans to sell it for a future development, said DJ Vincent, founding pastor of Church at the Park.

That will lead to people having to spend more gas money to use resources spread across Salem, Vincent said, leaving less time to work on steps to secure housing.

“The further they have to go for resources, and kind of zigzagging all over town makes it harder for them to focus their energy,” Vincent said. 

Back in April, when the city’s budget committee was considering these cuts, Vincent asked in a letter that they reduce the funds and allow them to continue using the Portland Road facility rather than eliminate the contract. He noted that since 2023, 414 people have used the program, 39% moving into a stable living situation after. 

The city has not yet sold the property, said city spokeswoman Courtney Knox Bush, but the arrangement was always meant to be temporary. Vincent said the city was clear that it would be sold for development at some point since Church at the Park began using it.

Last year, the city spent $260,000 from its general fund on Safe Park, using a state sheltering grant, which covered costs like restrooms, trash, insurance and case management.

The city’s five-year strategic plan, adopted in 2021, listed “addressing homelessness” as its top priority. City councilors later released an annual policy agenda in 2024 listing sustaining infrastructure and services as a top priority, with homelessness at the bottom.

During budget cuts in the past few years, the city has pulled away from its investments in sheltering and outreach, including micro shelters and the navigation center. Leadership had proposed paying for those with the 2023 payroll tax, which failed at the ballot box. The Salem Housing Authority’s outreach team will also stop operating this month.

The proposed city budget for the next year still funds the Salem Outreach and Livability Services Team, police and parks staff who do encampment outreach, using $918,600. Most of that service, $524,470, will be funded using opioid settlement dollars. The proposed budget also includes $225,240 for homeless and shelter coordination, including collaboration between resources and developing projects.

The city is attempting to balance its budget again with a proposed levy, which if passed will maintain staffing and services at the library, parks and recreation and Center 50+.

The city does not plan to reinvest in homeless services like safe parking and warming shelters even if the levy passes, said Knox Bush.

The programs are turning to other sources.

The state will likely be able to contribute much of the funding needed to operate the warming shelters absent the city investment, said Ashley Hamilton, deputy executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency which leads the network of local warming shelters.

The city previously contributed $150,000 a year toward warming efforts, Hamilton said in an email.

“I want to emphasize that while MWVCAA deeply values our partnership with the city of Salem, we also understand the financial constraints the city must navigate,” Hamilton said. “Although that specific funding may change, we continue to work with the city to explore alternative sources and maintain collaboration in other key areas, including the Navigation Center and permanent supportive housing initiatives.”

During the last cold season, a grant from Oregon Housing and Community Services funded much of the warming operations. Guests stay overnight in participating churches and get drinks and snacks, with a mix of paid and volunteer workers managing the shelters. The state stepped in after a monthslong effort to secure funds by the local agency, and concerns they’d have to reduce service after the city cut its funding more than 80% from the prior year.

Hamilton said that she believes safety for unsheltered people during severe weather is a priority for the state, city and the agency’s partners. She said she is confident that the warming shelter activities will continue.

The future of the safe parking program is less certain. Vincent said each of the eight churches offering overnight spaces has said they want to continue participating. Congregations are considering ways to help cover costs, which include chemical toilets, trash clean up and insurance for risk.

“The biggest cost for the program is probably the case management,” Vincent said. They’ve been working to prepare to implement new expansions to the Oregon Health Plan that can be used for housing needs. If someone applies to join safe parking, Vincent said they’ll start by helping them enroll.

Vincent said the hope is that case managers can meet with people at the churches.

“Supporting a day center requires resources. Right now our plan is to meet people at existing spaces, whether that’s ARCHES, or one day a week Oak Park is offering resources and showers. We’ll be looking to partner with other existing efforts,” he said.

Vincent said they’re also looking for grant opportunities in the legislature. 
According to the latest count of unsheltered people in the community, about a third are sleeping in their car. That’s over 300 people, that likely being an undercount.

Safe Park served 173 people in the program last year, Vincent said.

“There is an incredibly long wait list,” he said.

Vincent said he hopes the community will lean in.

“I’m planning to ask the community for resources so that the program doesn’t need to completely go away. I understand that some of our services will be reduced, but I’m hoping not to see the program eliminated,” he said.

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.

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