MEDFORD, Ore.- The Crossings in Medford is set to open later this month.
In 2020, the City of Medford partnered with Rogue Retreat to create an urban campground to serve the homeless. The site on Biddle Road, which housed this campground, has been rented by the city for the last three years. But now, with $1 million in funding from the state legislature, the City of Medford was able to purchase land for a permanent space for those looking to take steps out of homelessness.
“We’re very excited to take everything that we’ve learned from the last three years and now put those, those tools into place in a permanent location that’s purposely designed for people to live in and thrive and succeed in,” Rogue Retreat’s Executive Director Sam Engel announced during a tour of The Crossings.
Engel tells us the project works like a graduation system to hopefully bring people from the streets into homes of their own over time. Like the Urban Campground, the land will hold tents for individuals to start out in, but they can eventually move into the new Foldum units. These units, which can house up to sixty individuals, have insulated walls, foldable beds that can turn into a table and seating arrangements and AC units.
“The Urban Campground model is as successful, I think, as anything in the state,” State Senator Jeff Golden told NBC5, “and maybe beyond in the challenge of, you know, getting severely hurting people off the street to somewhere safe and warm”.
Though there is no official opening date just yet, the City says The Crossings will be able to take in folks within the next couple of weeks.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.