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The Medford City Council on Thursday will consider moving ahead with plans to purchase four acres of land for a permanent homeless campground.
The council should approve the deal.
First, the existing homeless campground off Biddle Road is temporary.
The property is privately owned, and the city had hoped to purchase it, but the owner did not want to sell.
The campground served an immediate need for a place to refer people removed from the Bear Creek Greenway.
Medford officials have said they noticed a reduction in camping along the Greenway after the campground was established and then doubled in size.
Second, the new location has room to relocate the 125-bed campground , about an acre is needed for that use , and the other three acres would be used for transitional housing in the future.
Transitional housing offers a step between tent shelters and permanent housing for people working their way out of homelessness.
The new property is adjacent to the city’s Public Works Service Center at North Columbus Avenue and McAndrews Road, a short distance from the tiny housing development Hope Village.
The campground and Hope Village are operated by Rogue Retreat, a nonprofit agency that provides a variety of shelter options, housing more than 500 homeless people a night.
Rogue Retreat has come under criticism for its ties to Set Free Ministry, a church pastored by Rogue Retreat’s executive director Chad McComas.
As recently as four years ago, Set Free allowed a national group called Celebrate Recovery to hold meetings in its building, which included distributing pamphlets promoting gay conversion therapy.
The pamphlets encouraged people with same-sex attraction to join religious-based support groups to get “God’s help for victory over our compulsive desires” , an approach that has been denounced as harmful by medical and psychological experts.
Oregon law also protects youths from conversion therapy.
So far, no evidence has been presented that those attitudes are influencing Rogue Retreat’s work to help the homeless.
In response to the criticism, Medford city officials have paused grant funding to Set Free, and asked Rogue Retreat’s board to investigate the allegations.
Both steps are appropriate.
Private religious organizations have the right to their beliefs, but any group that accepts government funding must steer clear of imposing those beliefs on the people it serves.
That would violate the constitutional prohibition against establishing an official religion.
Rogue Retreat receives considerable government support, and is poised to receive more.
In the same meeting that will take up the property purchase, the City Council will consider contracting with Rogue Retreat to operate the city’s new navigation center for homeless clients on Market Street.
Rogue Retreat issued a statement last week saying it is not associated with Celebrate Recovery and is separate from Set Free Ministry.
As long as that remains the case, the city should continue to support their efforts to address homelessness. © 2022 Mail Tribune source