Rogue Retreat takes over operation of shelter, which will be open for 90 straight nights

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

The city of Ashland’s severe weather shelter will move to 2200 Ashland St. and be operated by Rogue Retreat starting Wednesday, Jan. 1, and will operate in that location for 90 days, according to city Emergency Management Coordinator Kelly Burns. 

“We approached Rogue Retreat and Access when we understood OHRA (Opportunities for Housing, Resources & Assistance) wasn’t going to partner with us. Rogue Retreat was interested and the city likes their service model which has proven to get more people off of the streets and into more stable living situations,” he said.

Medford-based Rogue Retreat will include increased access to navigation services as part of their shelter operations to help guests find greater stability such as transitional housing or other services, said Stephanie Deneke, director of marketing and development for Rogue Retreat. 

“We will be adding a little time in the morning for people to hopefully engage with someone,” she said. 

Trained staff will monitor the entire shelter operation both inside and outside the building to ensure guests are safe and “doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” 

“They’re trained, they know what to look for,” she said when asked about security at the shelter. 

Though, she said, in conversations about security, it is easy to forget that guests may approach the shelter with anxiety about how they will be received. 

When asked about public feedback — particularly from neighbors of the 2200 Ashland St. property — she said Rogue Retreat is open to comments or concerns, but since the shelter is operated by the nonprofit under contract with the city, the city should likely be the primary source of contact. 

Under both the previous contract with Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice and Rogue Retreat, the city spends $2,200 each shelter night, Burns said. This cost supports staff, some food for guests, cleaning, staff time, including the necessary fire watch, and other expenses. The contract with OHRA had a similar cost. 

The change of locations and change of shelter operators from Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice to Rogue Retreat are representative of an ongoing effort from the city to pivot within layers of logistical hurdles, as previously reported by Ashland.news. 

The First Presbyterian Church — where the shelter has been held since Nov. 27— and 2200 Ashland St. both lack smoke detection systems required by fire code for buildings where people will be sleeping. 

Fire code only allows these kinds of spaces to be used for sleeping in the case of an emergency and only for 90 days in a given calendar year, Burns said. 

“The rules are there to keep humans from making bad mistakes and putting people at risk. The 90 days is inconvenient, but it’s done with safety in mind,” he said. 

Fire code also dictates occupancy at a low level under these conditions — leading to an ask that half the shelter’s guests remain awake to achieve a maximum occupancy of 28 including shelter staff. 

“Based on the fire marshal’s occupancy calculations, we are allowed to have 14 people sleeping in the garage area. An additional 14 persons can remain in the main lobby area, but they need to not be sleeping. … We’re occupying a building that was never designed to be an overnight shelter. In order to create an overnight shelter, we have to follow the rules,” he said. 

In time spent coordinating the severe weather shelter for the city, Burns said he has begun to work on a new line of thought for the city’s shelter. 

“As I’ve been tasked with solving our severe weather shelter issues in the city, I’ve come to understand we need more than a few spaces that can be activated at different times of the year. Creating safe shelter spaces for different populations would be preferable to just having a general population low-barrier shelter space, like an additional space for elderly, and a space for women and children.” 

To achieve these ends, Burns said he has been approaching different spaces or potential operators, but the project to create this more multi-faceted structure for the city’s shelter remains a project. The city’s severe weather shelter resolution dictates an expectation of opening a shelter through various weather events that can become prolonged, such as wind, freezing rain and extreme heat, or conditions as fickle as smoke. 

“We need a consistent, reliable and amazing third-party service provider who can perform on-call shelter duties,” he said.  

The 90-day contract with the city represents a period of “wait and see,” rather than a long term commitment, Deneke said. Rogue Retreat hopes to assess what is successful, potentially continuing its partnership with the city of Ashland. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].