Church at the Park reports over half of its departing residents moved on to homes, supportive programs and shelters
There are 240 people in the community who moved from homelessness into a shelter or home after working with Church at the Park last year, according to its recent annual report.
That represents more than half of the 384 people who moved out of the organization’s microshelters last year. Most had been living unsheltered on Salem’s streets and in parks before moving in, said CEO DJ Vincent. He said comparable programs for people in such…
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I thank the Church at the Park for the work that they do. Just one solution in a broken system. At some point we need to address the reason that so many become homeless due to increasing rents, moving them out of their previous homes.
This sounds like a great resource. I dont understand why there will be layoffs coming up when Oregons governor was recently approved for hundreds of millions due to the homeless crisis. Since we can see this has a favorable outcome, much better than what the governor has been doing, nothing, some of that homeless crisis money go in to this resource. This church at the park are being transparent and letting the people know how their money is being spent, they are helping people, really helping people, and it doesn’t sound like anyone is lining their pockets. With continued transparency, focusing on this resource and growing it sounds like a much better plan than Tina’s lack of any good plan. Perhaps in her “research” for what works, she should fund Church at the park and help it grow around Oregon, with the same integrity as this one in Salem, being transparent.
I think The Church At The Park has done a good job helping the community using their space and the micro shelters to get some people help. I think it would be a much better situation for everyone if they were to promote / require sobriety instead of handing out the paraphernalia they need to use or administer the participants drug of choice. I live across the street from one of their properties, and in the 3 years it’s been here the amount is drugs being done on the corners and sidewalks that surround the property has increased tremendously. These places need supervision, which they say they have, but the supervisors don’t stop the drug deals from happening at the fence or on the street. Which makes many people feel unsafe.
I genuinely believe the state needs to step up and fund the people who are actually out here doing real work and making a real difference. I stayed at Church at the Park for about six months, and I can’t overstate how kind and supportive they were. They fed us a hot meal every day, and in between they always had food available if you were hungry. They paid for my ID, provided clothing, and connected me with resources I didn’t even know existed.
It’s heartbreaking that the waiting list is so long. They need more funding to hire enough staff and to build more spaces for people who desperately need help. If the state refuses to support that—especially when they aren’t offering anything better—then that’s a failure of leadership. Church at the Park has already proven they have a real solution to a massive problem. The only thing holding them back is money, and letting that stop them from expanding is almost criminal.
If anyone reading this has the ability to raise funds, advocate, or speak to the people who control homelessness funding, please do it. This community needs support, and investing in places like Church at the Park would make Salem a far better place for everyone.