Tent sites at Wallace Marine Park on Wednesday, May 27. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) People using two of Salem’s city parks should expect to see a new sight: security guards. The city of Salem has begun paying a security company $312,000 to patrol Marion Square and Wallace Marine parks. Salem City[Read More…]

Redwood Crossing will offer 37 apartments to those who have difficultly getting and staying in housing. (Courtesy/Salem Housing Authority) The Salem Housing Authority will soon welcome residents to a first of its kind facility in Salem, meant to provide longer-term housing and wraparound services for those who need it most.[Read More…]

Volunteer Lorrie Walker, left, hands a bagged lunch to James Matthews during Salem’s 2020 homeless count (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Lorrie Walker trod along an improvised trail near Mill Creek, her rain boots covered in mud. “Good morning!” she called to a large tent covered in tarps. “We’re doing the homeless[Read More…]

People camp downtown, along the former home of Nordstrom. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) On Thursday, Jan. 30 the city of Salem is closing and cleaning parts of downtown where homeless residents have slept since a citywide camping ban started in December. It’s the third cleanup this month. Costs are mounting as[Read More…]

Volunteer Kris Hardy surveys a homeless man in the Winco parking lot during Salem’s 2019 point-in-time homeless count. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Local homeless service providers still need 30 volunteers to help with an annual count of homeless people in Marion and Polk counties this Wednesday, Jan. 29. The count is[Read More…]

Doug Pendleton, a former resident of Cascades Gateway Park, pictured in September, shows the inside of the van he lives in. Pendleton said he’d use a car camping program if Salem enacts one. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Doug Pendleton was woken Monday at 7 a.m. and drove to the Walmart parking[Read More…]

People stand near tents at Oregon State Capitol State Park in December. (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) The Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board doesn’t want homeless residents camping in city parks. In a draft letter dated Jan. 9, board member Kasia Quillinan told Salem City Council the board disapproved[Read More…]

People camp downtown, along the former home of Nordstrom, on Jan. 7. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) 4:15 p.m.: This article has been updated with more detail from city of Salem staff. The city of Salem plans to close and clean parts of downtown on Thursday and Friday where homeless residents have[Read More…]

People camp downtown, along the former home of Nordstrom. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Attempts to establish new emergency shelter for homeless Salem residents fell short again and again in recent weeks and the search party says the outcome’s not likely to change. “It’s been one strikeout after another,” said Jimmy Jones,[Read More…]