Umatilla County cities partner with nonprofit to provide temporary housing

The nonprofit Stepping Stones Alliance formed to provide a year-round shelter for people experiencing homelessness in and around Umatilla County. The organization partnered with several cities and the county to build a temporary housing project, which opened in 2023.

The facility includes an overnight shelter, as well as individual shelter units where “members” can receive wraparound services while seeking more permanent housing.

We’ll hear more about how the project is going from Executive Director Jesalyn Cole, who took us on a tour of the site. We’ll also talk with member Sean Scanlon, who came to Stepping Stones last year.

Note: The following transcript was transcribed using AI and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller, coming to you this week from Hermiston. The nonprofit Stepping Stones Alliance formed in 2019 to address homelessness in and around Umatilla County. It started with an overnight shelter. Then three years ago, the organization partnered with the county and local cities to build a transitional housing project. The facility includes an overnight shelter, as well as individual shelter units where people can receive wraparound services while seeking permanent housing.

Jesalyn Cole is the executive director. She invited us for a tour of the site. I had her describe what we were seeing.

Jesalyn Cole: So we are on our site. This is Stepping Stones Alliance. It’s part of the PATH (Practical Assistance through Transitional Housing) Project, which is made up of Boardman, Irrigon, Echo, Stanfield, Umatilla, Hermiston, and the county of Umatilla. [They] all came together, and they contract us for services to help those experiencing homelessness in the area.

Miller: I see a couple different kinds of buildings or structures here. The ones that immediately caught my eye look like Conestoga wagons, sort of that classic hoop shape with fabric or vinyl over them. What are those?

Cole: So those are our individual shelter units. We currently have 23. We are adding an ADA unit that hasn’t come online yet, we’re working on getting electrical into that. They form the start of a horseshoe, and that’s where our members live when they’re on site with us working on whatever goals they have to eventually get into permanent housing.

Miller: What do you mean by members?

Cole: Members are those that have spent at least 14 consecutive nights in the sleep center and have transitioned into becoming a member and living on site in an individual shelter unit. They have expressed interest in progressing out of homelessness and working with our navigation director on goals and bettering their lives, making things better for themselves with our help.

Miller: So before staying in one of these transitional shelters, the first is going to the sleep center?

Cole: Yes, that’s what we call our overnight congregate shelter. It’s bunk beds. We are low barrier, so we accept families, those with pets. You can come in under the influence, you cannot use on site. Men, women, I think I said families. That’s where you check in in the evening, you get a meal, you stay overnight, you check out in the morning.

Miller: And once you’ve been there for 14 days, is the idea that by doing that, people are showing you some level of stability that they could maybe handle being in their own unit?

Cole: And the level of commitment that they’re ready to progress and do something more. We have guests that are not interested in transitioning into membership. And we have guests that have come through the area and have not stayed here permanently or long term, and have just utilized the sleep center as it is, night by night.

Miller: I’m curious about the siting of this place. We were in the middle of downtown Hermiston. Then we drove for about 10 minutes or so, and the GPS said, make a right, make a left, and pretty soon we were in a cloud of gravel dust with some big machines around us. And I thought we may have taken a wrong turn. And then we got past the huge piles of gravel, and then here we were. How did you end up in this site?

Cole: Well, the site was decided before I came on board. There were lots of discussions in different municipalities of where to have this permanent location. Keep in mind that we already had the sleep center and were offering services, but we knew that we wanted to expand, be open 365 nights out of the year, offer the navigation services, so needed something bigger than what we were in. There was lots of discussion, lots of looking in town, and nothing was the right fit. I’m not going to get political about it, but there was a lot of pushback on where people didn’t want it, I will say. There were a lot of opinions on where people didn’t want it.

This land was owned by the county and the county was willing to use it for this purpose. It has turned into an incredible blessing that we are out here, that we have the space not only to do what we’re doing now, but to expand further. Transportation was one of our biggest issues being out here, and we saw that as a challenge early on and got grant dollars to invest in two shuttles, so we offer our own transportation. Since being out here, Kayak, the local public transportation through the tribes, does now have a stop out here. So they come through several times a day, and that has helped tremendously as well.

Miller: Over the years, we’ve had a lot of conversations about and with communities all around the Northwest dealing with the same issues of lack of affordable housing, of homelessness, of homeless services, and various versions of NIMBYism, of “I don’t want those people here, I don’t want a shelter next to my business,” they come up all over the place. You said you don’t want to get into politics, but in a sense, is that what you’re dealing with, people in Hermiston saying “not here”?

Cole: Yes. And not just Hermiston. I would say in the county. So like I mentioned before, we are under contract with multiple cities that have banded together to really work proactively on this problem in the area. So it was many conversations, many communities and community members involved that yes, were very much “not next door to me.”

Miller: It’s striking that we’ve been here for a couple of days now, we’ve done a fair amount of walking around the center of Hermiston, a lot of different blocks. And having come from Portland and the Portland area, it’s striking how much I haven’t seen visible homelessness here compared to Portland. How do you explain that?

Cole: I think there are a lot who, if they don’t want to take advantage of the services that we offer, are outside of the city. So along Old River Road, there are some houses that we know about that many people are staying in. Camping is one, RVs. And it’s just more spread out, so it’s not as concentrated. There are pockets here and there, and we go monthly on outreach visits and go to known encampments, known areas, and check in with those folks, see if they are ready to take advantage of our services, if they need anything, how they’re doing. But I would say that the biggest part of it is that we’re just so rural and spread out that the problem still exists, but it’s not as obvious or evident because they don’t necessarily want to be seen.

Miller: What have you learned from those regular monthly surveys or walkabouts, and the once every year or two years required point-in-time counts? What does the need for services look like here right now?

Cole: There is a great need. We’re seeing approximately 50 people every day between our sleep center and our individual shelter units. There are many people who need our services, and then there are those who, I call them resource resistant. They may not be ready. They may not want to. A lot have had bad experiences in the past, so there’s a trust issue. And we’re actually seeing more now since we’ve been here long enough and have a reputation. Some of those that have said no in the beginning are coming around and showing up and starting to engage with us, and seeing that we are doing what we said we’re going to do. We are offering a hand up.

Miller: Can you give me a tour?

Cole: Sure.

Miller: So what do you see as the areas here that really have made this successful?

Cole: We’ve continued to add. We started with 21 individual shelter units and we’ve added two along the way, so we’re up to 23. As we got on campus we saw what was missing, what we needed. We’ve added some lighting. We added the outdoor shelter area that is for groups, so we have picnic tables under a canopy that is just a nicer area for them to sit. We just added a propane grill, got grant dollars for that so they can cook outside. We did have to add an additional storage shed so that we can have space for our cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothes and different things that we offer. We just continue to grow and add, and write grants for those things that we don’t yet have.

So we’re walking on the path now between the individual shelter units. Each shelter unit does have an outlet, an interior light, a heater, and then a light on the porch as well.

Miller: And a cot and some places to store your things.

Cole: Then outside each unit is a rolling storage bin that they can use as well.

Miller: And we passed showers and bathrooms back there.

Cole: Members have access to the shower trailer 24 hours a day. And there are three to four mornings a week that we offer showers to the guests that are in the sleep center.

Miller: How big is the waiting list?

Cole: So it really actually goes quite quickly. We have had a few times that someone has had to wait a few weeks, but usually it’s a matter of days. We have turnover, either because people have been successful and are moving on to better, or they’ve decided that this isn’t the right fit right now and they go back to the sleep center or go somewhere else. So we actually have pretty good turnover and not too long of a wait.

Miller: You mentioned that one of the reasons the waiting list isn’t that long is that some people leave here, some because they decide that it’s not right for them, and others because they’re getting into better situations. What would you say is your track record in terms of getting people into some version of permanent housing?

Cole: I would like to say it’s phenomenal. But, being in the area we are, there isn’t the housing that we need. It’s oftentimes that we have members on waitlists that just don’t decrease, nothing opens up within their price range or with a landlord who is willing to rent to somebody who has evictions on their record or has a criminal record. So it makes it really challenging to find that right fit.

That being said, we have had successes. We work closely with CAPECO [Community Action Program of East Central Oregon), with Umatilla Housing Authority, to do everything we can to find those housing situations and get our members moved on to something more permanent.

Miller: Jesalyn, thanks very much.

Cole: Thanks.

Miller [narrating]: After we talked with Jesalyn, she introduced us to one of the people who was living in an individual unit. Sean Scanlon grew up in Southern California. He went to college in Spokane and has lived in Hermiston for 35 years. I asked him how he ended up at Stepping Stones.

Sean Scanlon: I ended up here due to health issues, lack of planning and addiction.

Miller: OK, three different things that somehow overlapped?

Scanlon: Sure.

Miller: Do you mind telling us the short version of the story?

Scanlon: I fell in love with a bottle of vodka for a number of years. Couldn’t do without it. I didn’t touch alcohol or drugs until I was about 28, 29 years old, period. But when I did, it sure took a grip on me. And the reasons why … just made poor judgment. It just got a grip on me and then off it went for a good number of years: 20 years, 25 years. Always saying, “Oh, I’ll quit. I’ll get a grip on it.” But it progressively got worse and worse, you know? And then the alcohol, and the drugs, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Miller: How long were you homeless for?

Scanlon: Probably about two months. I was married. I’ve been divorced for about 10 years now, but I’ve got five kids, they live here. A number of friends here that I probably could have shacked up with or this and that, but I was just so in a state of mind, like I could not believe it. But I couldn’t pay my bills, I couldn’t keep a job. To that point, I couldn’t manage myself. And that was unreal. And I just said, well, I’m going to do it on my own. And I found this place, found Stepping Stones. Thank God.

Miller: And when did you get here?

Scanlon: I got here about a year ago. Sleeping in my truck for a good couple of months and just living however I could. I showed up here. Thank God they had a bed for me and a shower. I kind of got my footing underneath me again, and confidence was the main thing.

Miller: Confidence in what?

Scanlon: In myself. Huge. That I could beat these things and move on. I’m 60-somethin’ years old too. At that time I kind of threw in the towel, like it’s over. My life is done.

Miller: Literally? You thought that your life was soon to be over.

Scanlon: Totally, yeah. But once I got confidence underneath me and people around me here, that was far from the truth. My life is just beginning.

Miller: What kinds of services have you taken advantage of since you got here?

Scanlon: So they have a number of services here, like the buses, transportation, different programs here that they offer on a weekly and daily basis for everyone, just to get people involved in things, involved with each other, other people, as well as yourself. And one-to-one communication with certified people too. And that’s helped immensely too, to help set goals, which had been a big part of my life previously. I just threw those out the door and then forgot completely about them. But goals are such a huge part. And attaining those goals. Making attainable goals are huge for me. And I’ve been able to attain some goals here. And then ones furthermore, up in the future here too.

Miller: What were those early goals that you’ve attained?

Scanlon: They were simple goals, very simple goals like getting up at a specific time. Eating breakfast at a certain time. What I initially did was I had a chalkboard, like a greaseboard, and I would set “6:00am: Up,” “7:00am: Eat,” “8:00am: Work out,” so forth and so on, throughout my whole day. I’ve done that in the past, but it wasn’t that hour-by-hour-by-hour. That’s basically how I started out. And for me, that worked. I’ve attained those goals and now I just go, like, “6:00, let’s do this.”

And I know what I’m doing between 6:00 and 10:00, but I’ll write some things in. I still do some things here and there to attain end goals. We’ve set some goals further beyond that as far as job-wise, and my addictions as well, maintaining abstinence.

Miller: Is sobriety one of your goals?

Scanlon: Yes, it is. One goal is to attain two AA meetings a week, as well as NA meetings, which are crucial for me. If you lay off those things, for me, I’m not gonna make it.

Miller: If you don’t have peer support, regularly a part of your life?

Scanlon: And listening to other people’s stories and stuff, it’s monumental for me.

Miller: Had you tried getting clean before?

Scanlon: I had, oh yeah. Many times, many times.

Miller: And is this period of sobriety different for you?

Scanlon: It is. I want it to be. The next 20 years, I want to be the best of the years of my life. I really do. And not that the past 20 or 40 years couldn’t have been, and they were. I had great times. But you think back on like the times that were wasted because the hours and the money, and so forth and so on, the friendships burned and bridges, this and that. I just can’t imagine all the things that happened. I don’t want that to happen anymore. I’m done. I’ve reached a point where I’m done with that, and I’m better than that.

Miller: Do you see a viable path to get out of here and to get into your own housing?

Scanlon: Yeah, sure I do.

Miller: What does that path look like?

Scanlon: It’s not easy. It’s really not. We were discussing it today, and it’s not easy because [of] the price of things, down payments and this and that. Right now. I’m DoorDashing, which isn’t a whole lot of money a week, but I’ve been able to pay off some debt.

Miller: Doing food deliveries or package delivery?

Scanlon: Yeah, exactly, and shopping. So, I’m doing OK. I had been a bus driver for the past 10 years before that for the Hermiston School District for sports teams. And before that, I’ve been in management and so forth and so on. To do that again now, I don’t know if it’s viable, with health issues and that. So there’s options for me out there. There certainly are…

Miller: But putting together first and last and a deposit to get your own place if there’s not that much affordable housing?

Scanlon: No, there isn’t. You’re looking at $1,500 minimum with another $1,500 to $2,500 minimum down payments as well too. It’s difficult. It’s not out of reach, I know that. It’s doable, but it takes discipline, which I haven’t always been the best at. But I’m doing it here now, too.

Miller: If 20, 25 years ago, maybe even less, I’d asked you your thoughts about people who are homeless, what would you have said?

Scanlon: Oh yeah, I wouldn’t have said anything that good, I don’t think. I know I wouldn’t have. Bums, get a job. What’s their deal? The same things a lot of people say. And now that I’ve been amongst them and lived with them, and I’m one of them, I don’t think the same things at all. There’s factors that go into it that people don’t know.

Miller: Have you found community here? Have you found friends?

Scanlon: Yes, I have. Oh yeah, definitely. Not only in the staff, but in the homeless people themselves too, genuine friends. I don’t have no problem with that. Maybe at first I thought I was above and beyond. But I’m not. I’m not in any way.

Miller: Thanks very much.

Scanlon: Yeah, you’re welcome.

Miller: That was Sean Scanlon who lives in an individual shelter unit at the site in Hermiston run by the non-profit Stepping Stones Alliance. We also heard from Stepping Stones Executive Director Jesalyn Cole.

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