By James Day The Silverton City Council is discussing two primary sites as part of its work to establish a homeless camping ordinance for the city. Such an ordinance is prudent, city officials say, because recent court actions point toward possible liability for cities if camping is not offered when local shelters are full. Councilors looked at the most recent […]
By Melissa Wagoner In the Willamette Valley, the need for support services like food and shelter has been growing. “Our recent annual report reflected that the 2023-24 fiscal year was the busiest year in our 40-plus year history…” Jean Hubbard – board vice president of the Stayton Community Food Bank (SCFB) said. “The number of households served in 2023-24 is […]
By James Day The Silverton City Council has directed City Manager Cory Misley to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that locks the city into dealing with only one development firm on an affordable housing project planned for a parcel adjacent to the dog park and the Silverton Senior Center. For the next year Hacienda Community Development Corporation of Portland […]
By James Day Silverton likely will move forward on a city ordinance on camping within the city limits. City officials, reacting to a series of court cases, including ones in Boise, Idaho, and the Oregon cities Grants Pass and Medford, began the camping regulation discussion at the Aug. 19 council meeting. Sheltering Silverton Executive Director Sarah White and the group’s […]
When Sheltering Silverton partnered with retired SFSD educator Nancy Miller to host the “Storytelling Event: Stories of Courage and Resilience in the Face of Homelessness” at Silver Falls Library on June 1, the organization was not only looking to give a personal voice to the issue of homelessness but to set the record straight as well. Myth 1: Silverton’s unhoused […]
Every community gets to decide how it confronts its most difficult challenges. Every community gets to decide if their response to challenges will be compassionate, punitive, exclusive, collaborative; but whatever they choose, it should be effective. Unsheltered homelessness is one of the most difficult challenges across America, and communities large and small have been left dealing with the fallout – […]
By Melissa Wagoner With a Supreme Court ruling about whether or not to overturn Martin v. Boise – a 2018 lawsuit, which found that a person can’t be punished for being unhoused if there are not adequate shelter beds available – expected any day, Sheltering Silverton’s “Storytelling Event,” held at the Silver Falls Library on June 1, felt especially timely. […]
Just this past summer, I lost a dear friend of mine. His name was Justin. He lived outside, had a very unique sense of style, and often made others uncomfortable by sifting through garbage cans for little treasures. He was a complex figure, as we all are, but his personality was marked by a gleaming naivety, an earnest impulse to […]
By James Day Sometimes your ability to make a difference in your community can be as simple as how often you say ”yes.” That’s been the case in recent years with Oak Street Church and its pastor John Friedrick. Yes to continuing its Monday meal tradition. Yes to using the church building for a warming shelter. Yes to hosting listening […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Jenna Keeton received a phone call from her mother alerting her that her father had died, she wasn’t surprised. “I had been preparing myself for his death for years,” Jenna admitted. “But I was expecting a heart attack or an overdose.” Instead, Jenna learned that her father, Joe Keeton – a man who had struggled with […]
By James Day Sheltering Silverton has hit a milestone in its serving of the homeless in town with the opening of its new warming shelter and cabins outside the parking lot of the city shops complex on McClaine Street. “It’s not the end, but it’s a new chapter,” said board president Mary Jane Schaffer, one of the speakers at an […]
By James Day Sheltering Silverton’s move to a new space in the city’s Public Works complex is just a week or so away. Sarah White, the nonprofit’s executive director, told Our Town “we are very close to completing the renovations of our building.” Key work to be done on the modular structure includes plumbing, adding a kitchen and a bathroom, […]
The Silverton Lions Club will welcome Sarah White from Sheltering Silverton for a presentation Thursday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 303 Church St., Silverton. White’s talk, “A Competent Collaborative Community Response to Homelessness”, is free and open to the public.
By Melissa Wagoner In the five years since Joe Keeton moved to Silverton at the behest of a friend, his face became known to many throughout the town including Sarah White, the executive director and founder of Sheltering Silverton. “I met Joe in 2018 when we first opened up our Resource Center in the basement of the Community Center,” White said, […]
By James Day Sheltering Silverton has received a $564,683 grant from the state to assist in the agency’s emergency shelter operations in Silverton.The funds were part of a $10.4 million pool of state money awarded to Marion and Polk counties and distributed by the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance. Sheltering Silverton will use the bulk of the new funding, $300,000, to […]
By James Day The City of Silverton is accepting bids for rehab work on a modular unit that will serve as a warming shelter for clients of Sheltering Silverton. The city has set aside $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the project. The closing date for bids is March 21. The bid process opened Feb. 28. Sarah […]
By Melissa Wagoner On the last Wednesday of January each year volunteers across the state come together to provide government officials with a snapshot of the current unhoused population. The purpose of which is, according to Sheltering Silverton Program Director Megan Smith, “that statewide every year we can have a better idea about what’s needed for allocation in shelters.” Shelters like the […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Sheltering Silverton created the Children’s Lantern Parade in 2018, they wanted the event to be more than just another parade. “It’s about people lighting up the dark for their neighbors,” Sheltering Silverton founder Sarah White explained. Both those with homes and those without. “This is a way to remind [the unhoused], you’re not alone and you’re […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Sarah White created, and later became the director of, Sheltering Silverton – a resource center advocating for those who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless – she already knew that someday she would leave the day-to-day operations for a more advisory position. “We had been working on an exit strategy that was going to […]
By Melissa Wagoner Trauma is the one-word answer both Sarah White, program director and case manager at Sheltering Silverton, and Sarah Case, a licensed professional counselor, give when asked to describe a prevalent narrative within unhoused populations. “The vast majority of people we serve are survivors of trauma, often complex trauma experienced over their lifetimes,” White explained. “We hear from folks […]
By Melissa Wagoner Gloria’s path to homelessness began last December – on her birthday – when the woman who employed her as a live-in caregiver had a stroke. By Christmas she found herself living in her van with two dogs. And by Jan. 4 she was sleeping under the Marion Street Bridge in Salem with nothing but her dog and […]
By Brenna Wiegand Though greatly honored, Sarah White is a little embarrassed at receiving Silverton’s Distinguished Service award for 2018. “I’m really grateful; I feel it is a collective work and a collective award and I just happen to be the person whose name is on it,” White said. White was part of a core group that formed Silverton Sheltering […]
