Bend homeless camp cleanups spark conversation about basic needs

But two recently added amenities have made her life just a little bit easier: a dumpster and a portable toilet.

“They make our lives a lot better,” Wenciker said.

One of the most frequent complaints public agencies hear about when it comes to local homeless camps is about trash. Complaints about trash often prompt cleanup or camp-removal efforts, most recently on land owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation. They cost lots of time and resources: the last one at the highway interchange at Revere Avenue cost $18,000, according to ODOT.

For some advocates for the homeless, who have been making their case through public comments over several Bend City Council meetings, the answer to this problem seems simple: bring portable toilets and dumpsters to camps.

The camp at Hunnell Road, which has dozens of cars and RVs parked along it, is unusual because it has both a dumpster, provided by the city of Bend, and a portable toilet, provided by the nonprofit Community Shower Truck. The two amenities are intended to help address trash concerns and provide basic hygienic services to people who find themselves with few options for shelter in the region.

But the city, ODOT and social service providers say the solution is more complicated than it appears.

Amenities help people

The situation at Hunnell Road, along with two cleanup operations on Oregon Department of Transportation properties last week near Murphy Road and Revere Avenue, have brought the issue of homeless camps and how they should be managed to the forefront.

ODOT has argued the cleanups are necessary, after receiving numerous complaints from neighbors concerned about trash, crime and fire risks that come with open fires near neighborhoods.

The cleanups, which have been occurring for months, have energized homeless advocates, who argue such actions are ineffective and destabilizing for those who live in the camps.

But one common concern public agencies and social service providers have revolves around management.

When asked whether ODOT is considering adding amenities like dumpsters or portable toilets, Peter Murphy, a spokesman for the department of transportation, said the organization did not have the tools to manage homeless camps. He said the organization is not chartered to take care of homeless camps — it is to maintain the highway system.

“The greater degree we become responsible for camps, the farther away we get from that core responsibility,” Murphy said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t … the question becomes whether it should be.”

The city of Bend decided to put a dumpster at Hunnell Road a few months ago to address the amount of trash accumulating in the area, but even that has brought new problems, said Shelly Smith, a senior analyst with the city.

People from outside the area are illegally dumping things in the dumpster, Smith said.

“We have people dropping off tables and chairs, and all these items we are having removed,” Smith said.

Without a plan for intentional monitoring, other risks, like someone illegally dumping something toxic into the dumpster, could also threaten the camp, she said.

Vandalism is also a concern, Smith said. Near the beginning of the pandemic, the city put in hand-washing stations to give homeless residents access to hygiene while many businesses and other publicly accessible buildings were closed. Several were vandalized and one was stolen. Each one cost $700, she said.

But advocates with the Street Kitchen Collective, an organization that brings food and other services to homeless camps around the region, as well as some of the homeless residents themselves, say management has not been much of an issue.

That’s because the homeless residents have been cleaning and maintaining the portable toilets themselves, said Wenciker, who lives in an RV off Hunnell Road.

“We’re not slobs,” she said. “Just because we’re homeless, doesn’t mean we’re bad people.”

Kalie Mott, who also lives along Hunnell Road, said there used to be much more trash littering the area before the dumpster arrived, and that the portable toilets have reduced her own need of needing to go into town to find a bathroom.

“It definitely makes (life) a lot easier, especially easier at night when stores are closed,” Mott said. “Since we’ve had the port-a-potty, we try to keep it clean … to make sure it doesn’t get taken away from us.”

It costs $290 a month to empty the portable toilets and clean them once a week, said Tom Stutheit, who provided the toilets from his nonprofit the Community Shower Truck.

Jon Riggs, a volunteer with the Street Kitchen Collective, said having these amenities has reduced the stress of people living in the area, and shows what is possible when it comes to managing homeless camps.

“With more services, I truly believe this could become a managed situation,” Riggs said.

Smith said she is not saying the city wouldn’t step in to add resources like portable toilets at camps, but said more conversations between property owners near campsites and social service providers need to happen. Funding also needs to be discussed for these solutions, Smith said. Currently the city is paying roughly $1,000 a month to operate the dumpster at Hunnell Road.

For comparison, the cost to remove one abandoned campsite in a cleanup can cost between $750 to $2,500, Smith said in an email.

With a new City Council heading into budget planning, Smith said she and her team will be recommending how the council should allocate funds to address high-density camps.

“This isn’t a typical role the city has played in addressing this important need,” Smith said.

Other issues

The solution is not as simple as just putting dumpsters and portable toilets at homeless camps, said Colleen Thomas, the homeless services coordinator with Deschutes County.

Thomas agrees that providing these kinds of services are important, as they are basic human rights. But providing resources doesn’t mean they will be used properly. She referenced the vandalism of the hand-washing stations earlier last year.

“How do we continue to provide a resource but make sure it’s being utilized to its full intent?” Thomas said.

Also, just providing a resource is often not enough. Factors outside of just access, such as mental illness or hoarding, also contribute to trash issues and require social service providers and volunteers to have a relationship with the campers.

“When we look at homelessness as a general issue, we can’t come up with a blanket solution on how it should be addressed, because each individual has different experiences,” Thomas said.

The reaction of neighbors of established homeless camps also needs to be considered, she said.

“Even though there is a bigger push to provide better access to needs, the other side will say that will encourage people to come to this location,” Thomas said.

The situation at Hunnell Road has the potential to be replicated, Thomas said, but also emphasized the need to keep focused on long-term solutions to get people out of their unhoused situations.

Overall, Thomas said more efforts over time to help keep areas clean is better than public agencies coming in to do massive cleanups.

“If there’s more concerted, ongoing outreach on a more consistent basis to make sure those experiencing homelessness have access to basic needs, this is the best in the short term,” she said.