Local nonprofit helps those facing homelessness prepare for emergencies

By Sydney Seymour, Ashland.news

Where do you go if you have to evacuate from an oncoming fire? It’s a question important enough if you have a house from which to flee, but what if you’re without housing, camping out on the city’s “night lawn”? That’s the question one such resident asked the city’s emergency manager, and one that another local services agency answered.

Jeannie Martins has faced homelessness for seven years and lived on Ashland’s “night lawn” — the dusk-to-dawn designated camping area behind the police building — for a year and a half. In June, an Opportunities for Housing. Resources & Assistance (OHRA) employee who had asked Ashland’s Police Chief Tighe O’Meara that question told Martins the advice was to “hunker down in a wet field” in the case of an emergency.

While on “We the People,” a KSKQ radio show, in late June with the city Emergency Manager Kelly Burns, Martins confronted Burns about the evacuation plan for individuals facing homelessness. Burns responded on the show by encouraging those on the night lawn to prepare themselves, saying the city doesn’t have all the answers. 

Seven days later, on a red flag warning day, OHRA Operations Manager Lisa Smith sent a letter to the guests of the night lawn outlining an emergency plan and asking individuals to be prepared to evacuate.

While Smith said she did not hear the radio show, she did hear concerns from night lawn guests about lack of an evacuation plan. “We knew that was a need OHRA could fill,” Smith said over the phone. 

Modeled after the OHRA Center evacuation plan prepared for its services and residential center on Ashland Street, the plan encourages guests to sign up for emergency alerts and create a personal “go kit” by gathering important documents and medications.

If a Level 3 (go now) evacuation is called for the night lawn, OHRA will transport guests, pets and one grocery-sized bag per person. “OHRA vehicles will pick you up as soon as possible at Garfield Park and take you to the nearest safe location,” the plan reads. “Please wait in the middle of the lawn.” 

The park, some 500 feet east of the night lawn, would provide a safer staging area during a major fire.

In an evacuation, Smith told Ashland.news that OHRA would use their 15-passenger van, sprinter van and a truck to help OHRA guests to safety first, and then head to Garfield Park to evacuate anyone from the night lawn. 

Most of the people that use the night lawn also use OHRA services, Smith said. “We don’t want anybody left in a lurch when it’s life or death,” she continued in a phone call with Ashland.news. “OHRA is always at the table.” 

Ensuring everyone has a chance to be prepared 

Once Smith sent the letter to the night lawn detailing the evacuation plan, Martins felt concerned about relying on guests to create a “go kit.” She worked with the OHSU street nursing team in Ashland to ensure OHRA could provide each evacuee with a bag of essentials. 

Martins, who has four grown children, told Ashland.news she feels it’s important to emulate healthy behavior for those experiencing homelessness. 

“I really am trying to make changes for people who don’t know how to keep themselves safe,” Martins said. “It seems wrong for humans to be just not accounted for in so many different aspects. It’s the disregard for human life — to not give them a place and an option to better themselves, and just huck ’em gone and then expect them to do better.” 

With around 50 individuals on the night lawn on a regular basis, Martins said, there’s only about half that number of go bags. Bags include an N95 smoke mask, flashlight, handkerchief and two Ziploc bags for personal belongings and important documents. 

Counting the OHRA Center and the night lawn, Martins also raised concerns about the conditions for the unhoused population in Ashland. “There’s about 75 spots to be homeless legally in Ashland,” she said, referring to various city ordinances. “Everything else is illegal to just be longer than two hours.” 

Martins hopes the plan never has to be implemented. “But if it does,” she continued, “then I’d like to know that the citizens of Ashland consider the night lawn to be actual citizens. Who’s to say we aren’t your neighbors?” 

OHRA also works closely with the city to prepare residents at their 52-room facility for wildfire and practices monthly fire and evacuation drills. While they have not tested the night lawn plan because it would require guests to leave their belongings behind, Smith said OHRA has talked to the guests about what the evacuation will look like. 

“OHRA takes safety very seriously, and in everything we do, we strive to be trauma-informed,” Smith said. 

Burns also leads emergency preparedness workshops at OHRA and talks to guests about the importance of having a go-bag and how to respond in an evacuation. On the phone with Ashland.news right after teaching one of the workshops in late September, Burns shared one of his teachings. “No plan survives first contact,” he says, “You have to adapt. You can have a good plan, but you have to adapt it depending on the situation.” 

Considering the YMCA also created an evacuation plan, Burns encourages more businesses and local agencies to model after them and “at least have a plan to start with for an evacuation.” 

Related stories: 

Ashland’s first wildfire drill gives residents a taste of how emergency evacuation could go (Oct. 12, 2025)

Inside a wildfire evacuation plan: What to expect when it’s time to leave (Oct. 10, 2025)

Ashland to hold first-ever evacuation drill on Oct. 11 (Oct. 2, 2025)

‘What’s your plan?’: Ashlanders learn about evacuation readiness during interactive wildfire preparedness event (July 19, 2025)