Understanding Homelessness in Central Oregon 2026 Forum Report

Thank you to Teresa Jackson from Mountain View Community Development for this report:

It was great to meet so many of you at the Understanding Homelessness in Central Oregon Forum put on by the Central Oregon Homelessness Alliance on March 3.

Our board president Melissa Blackett, in her work with COHA, kicked off the night. Carly Conger and John Lodise explained the work of the Homeless Leadership Coalition.

And then our executive director, Rick Russell, facilitated a conversation around homelessness in our region. We heard from Brandi, who now works for Ideal Option and was unhoused, living in an RV in the woods in La Pine. She got sober, saved money, and is now in a place of her own.

Dr. Josh Reiher talked about his experience doing street medicine with Mosaic. He said setting up a tent and going to the people instead of having them come to a van or clinic "flips the power dynamic." He approaches his patients with compassion and dignity, recognizing their trauma and meeting them literally where they are.

Cleveland Commons tenant and former nurse Sheree got everyone laughing even as she explained her experience with homelessness, ADHD, paranoid schizophrenia, and being "born addicted." She spent seven years in a tent caring for a veritable zoo of animals. She was willing to leave when CAMP worked with her to rehouse all of her them. It took getting into housing for Sheree to get sober, and now she advocates for her fellow residents, including creating a plan for pets if a resident dies, as well as collecting donations for Christmas for Critters.

CJ Dezort, director of Cleveland Commons, explained the difference the apartment complex makes in the lives of formerly homeless people. "It's Thanksgiving dinner," he said. "It's the next day when people say, 'Do you know how long it's been since I was able to have leftovers the day after Thanksgiving?'"

The evening ended with Jezza Neumann, an award-winning filmmaker who is making a documentary about homeless kids in the United States. He is interviewing several families in Central Oregon, including at our Safe Parking & Microshelters Program.

Jezza's films "Born Poor" and "Poor Kids" have aired on PBS. He got the idea for his current project when he heard that there were American kids living in cars. He chose Oregon for one reason: "Oregon has the highest number of unsheltered families with children, sadly."

Jezza interviews children because they "articulate their world in a free way" and while it is easy to blame adults, he thinks children can change people's views.

He tells the people he films, "If we don't tell your story, if we don't try, it's guaranteed nothing will change."

Jezza's approach and commitment to telling stories without sensationalizing or exploiting the people he is filming is why we've agreed to let him film at our sites, though our participants are under no obligation to work with him and can decide to stop doing so at any time.