The overnight warming shelter operated by Malheur County during the recent cold snap functioned well but lessons were learned, according to a county assessment.
Girvin Hall at the Malheur County Fairgrounds in Ontario was turned into a shelter for three nights when temperatures dipped to about zero. Overnight, the shelter housed four people on Feb. 11, nine on Feb. 12 and eight on Feb. 13.
“Some folks came in for the meals and then returned to their cars or tents for shelter throughout the night,” according to the report by Lt. Rich Harriman, the county’s emergency manager. “Many of the homeless opted to stay with their belongings (tent, cars, camps, etc.) than to visit the shelter for fear of losing their stuff to theft.”
Overnight guests stayed on cots and got dinner and breakfast. The meals were prepared at Snake River Correctional Institution similar to the service it provides for the Meals on Wheels program, Harriman said. He said the county funded the meals, which cost $2.75 for dinner and $2 for breakfast.
The county also bought towels, while toiletries and bottled water were donated by Ontario City Councilor Penny Bakefelt and Ontario Fire and Rescue, the report said.
Harriman worked with two volunteers trained to manage shelters and a corps of volunteers.
He noted how at the start of that week, the county had only five volunteers registered to help with a shelter. He had said earlier that wasn’t enough to allow the shelter to open. When the Enterprise and Argus Observer reported the shortage of volunteers, enough stepped forward to allow the Girvin Hall operation to start, Harriman reported.
He said people registering to stay overnight were screened for state services and otherwise asked what help they needed.
“We tried to connect services with those that might need them,” he said.
He told of a National Guard veteran hospitalized with frostbite.
“He stayed one night in our shelter before he was connected with services that got him into one of the tiny homes,” Harriman said. A key was help from the Red Cross to get the man the needed identification to qualify for services.
“There were no altercations or incidents to report,” Harriman said. “Guests of the shelter honored the shelter rules and were respectful of the other guests.”
He noted that Community in Action and Lifeways Behavioral Health reached out to the homeless communities to let them know of the shelter.
He said one challenge arose with the plan to provide a free bus ride to the shelter. He said the local transit service ran its last bus at 5 p.m. and the shelter didn’t open until 7 p.m.
“By the second day, many guests would travel to the shelter on the last bus run of the day and wait outside for the shelter staff to arrive and open up,” Harriman said.
Harriman said one lesson learned was that a deeper pool of city and county leaders is needed for shelter leadership. Harriman himself was on duty at the shelter but noted that in other events such as fire evacuations, he would be needed for other duties.
He concluded his three-page report by noting that the county was not providing charity or pity.
“These are focused, life-saving measures taken for folks that don’t have the means to prepare for conditions so severe – conditions that may kill someone that is not properly prepared,” he wrote.
