It has a homeless shelter at a former motel in Ashland and offers resources for those in need, like showers, eviction prevention and help finding a job. OHRA’s Executive Director Cass Sinclair has led the organization for three years, but recently announced she’s leaving her position. JPR’s Jane Vaughan spoke with Sinclair about her time as executive director, the organization’s successes and what’s next for her.
Jane Vaughan: Thanks for speaking with me, Cass.
Cass Sinclair: Thanks for having me.
JV: So I want to start by sort of backing up a little bit. So you came to OHRA in 2019. You've been the executive director since 2021. You previously worked for Jackson County Public Health. Why did you choose to work in this field? Why is this work important to you?
CS: Well, when I was working at Jackson County Public Health in the position that I had there, I was working with the unhoused community, and I could just see that every time that somebody would come in to access our program, and if they just had a roof over their head for a very short period of time, that I could see a change in them and in their well being. And so when this position came up at OHRA, I started as the winter shelter director, and so it really just brought me to this work.
JV: You took over as executive director, as I said, in 2021. What were sort of your goals for that new role, and do you feel like you've accomplished them in your tenure?
CS: When I took over at OHRA as the executive director, we were really standing at the precipice of a huge change in our organization. We had been a $240,000 a year organization with five staff when COVID hit and really started to grow as we were passing through funding to keep people housed, to get people housed. And then this opportunity came to receive grant funding from the state to purchase the Super 8 in Ashland and turn it into — at that time, we didn't know the depth and scope of our services. I do feel like from where we were when we first got that building, going through a $1.6 million renovation project, bringing in La Clinica, who is providing mental health and medical health services under our roof, we've got 50 shelter rooms. We have a resource center that's serving our community, 40 to 50 people a day, helping families stay housed, helping families get housed. Plus, we have 14 regular community partners on campus every single day on a rolling calendar providing services to the people we serve. So this whole idea of a social service hub, this low barrier shelter model, that just the whole goal is to get a roof over people's head, and then you get the opportunity to work with them. We've got staff. Now we have 42 staff. We're a $2.6 million organization. These community partners that we have that are coming alongside of us to help provide services. I do feel accomplished in what I set out to do as the executive director, and then I'm excited to see what happens next with the new executive director coming on and taking the organization to where it will go next. And I do have to say, the biggest piece of this project for me, as I've taken time to reflect, have been the people along the way, our supporters, our board, the staff, our volunteers that we're reinvigorating, this whole community of partners that we've been able to innovate together and create together. And so that's the long answer.
JV: And now you have this resource center, like you said, the former Super 8 that's up and running and providing all these services. And you mentioned something about the staff increasing, which is something that you've done as executive director, increased the budget and the staff by quite a lot. I'm curious, first of all, how you sort of managed to do that, and why was that a focus?
CS: So the way we operated prior to this building, prior to purchasing the Super 8, was that we were operating a five month winter shelter, and at that time, I was the only staff, and we were supported by 350 volunteers that would come in and spend the night at shelter and provide meals and support the organization. And so when we got the building, COVID hit, we lost 350 volunteers. Our model changed because now we're operating on three floors, 50 shelter rooms, 24/7, 365 shelter. When people come in, they get six months to stay there. They can have a pet, a place to keep their things, their own room. So now we have three staff on three shifts around the clock, and then we've also increased the number of navigators that we have, those folks that you might consider like caseworkers, to actually meet the needs of our community. We are passing through and serving so many people a day because we have this walk-in resource center. It's a walk-in resource center where anybody in Jackson County can come through our doors to receive help. And the way we've balanced it, with this 1,000% growth in less than three years, are a lot of grants and grant seeking, and, of course, looking to grow our donor base to our community that we want to understand that we are serving our community, and that we're looking forward as an organization for this long term legacy to provide this service in our community. And so that means also increasing donors and funding and kind of trying to balance the scales where we're not so grant heavy. When you've had such growth in such a short period of time, that's what we're doing now, our long-term sustainability goal coming through strategic planning.
JV: And that's the tricky part. As you said, when you grow so much in such a short amount of time, you want to make sure you're not putting the cart before the horse and can really maintain that for a long time. And you mentioned that you've expanded quite a lot. 365, you've got all these rooms and shelter beds and people coming in and out. Do you have any numbers off the top of your head of how many people OHRA has helped during your tenure?
CS: Yes, thousands and thousands and thousands of people we've helped. One thing that I'm always so proud of is, since we opened our doors, April 1 of 2021, we have kept over 700 families housed. And what that means is they come in, they may have an eviction notice. So over 700 families that might have become unhoused, we have provided and helped them with utility assistance and eviction prevention and all the other things that they can work on alongside the navigation team to help stabilize their lives. And then the other piece is that we've helped over 460 families, now since opening, with rapid rehousing. Those are families that were previously unsheltered, unhoused folks that we've gotten housed and then we continue to work alongside of them in providing housing stabilization plans and case management check in. And some of them are on some long term rental assistance and some utility assistance that are provided through the state dollars. We were one of the seven counties in the state of Oregon that when Governor [Tina] Kotek called a state of emergency, we received funding to increase shelter beds, to provide eviction prevention and rapid rehousing, getting folks housed during that time. And so there are some funds that are still coming along to help keep those families housed while they're waiting for permanent housing.
JV: I think that's something that people sometimes overlook or don't think about or forget. People think of homelessness as being someone on the street or maybe couch surfing, but there's also people, as you say, who are sort of precariously housed or about to become homeless, and that's part of the work that OHRA does, is preventing it before it even gets to that point.
CS: Yes, and you know another thing that we're seeing, when you bring that up, we're seeing a whole new group of folks experiencing homelessness, and that are our seniors that are experiencing first time homelessness, that have been on a fixed income, many of them, maybe one partner passes. They've been living in a place with a certain rent amount, and now they can't afford it, and now they're in our shelter. Some folks up to the age of 90 [are] experiencing first time homelessness. So that's really sad. We're also seeing a wave of folks that have either come out of foster care, aging out of foster care. About half the folks that we serve have had some sort of involvement in the foster care system.
JV: You're talking about different populations that are seeing sort of increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. And I'm wondering what other sort of challenges the region, the county, Ashland, what are we still facing in terms of homelessness? I know that Ashland closed its emergency homeless shelter back in March. So what challenges are we still facing here?
CS: Well, I mean across the state of Oregon and the west coast, the homeless problem is really rooted in a housing problem that started long ago with urban renewal, with the closing of mental institutions, the war on drugs, different phases, a reduction in housing at the federal level. So we are really, really short, about 500,000 plus short, units that we need now and over the next 20 years with population growth. And so that is the root. I do think that having case management navigation services, where somebody can just walk through your door and start to receive services, even if it starts [with] they need a driver's license, a birth certificate, and just continuing to work alongside of them. A lot of folks who are experiencing homelessness don't have that one person that has helped them along the way. And there was a study that came out from UCSF, and some of the biggest takeaways that I saw were that a lot of folks just reported that the reason why they were homeless was they were $250 short. So just that $250 that they could have used to stay housed. We just don't have enough units.
JV: And talking about challenges, we're talking sort of regionally, what challenges in particular has OHRA faced in the few years that you've been there as executive director?
CS: We face challenges. I mean, we face challenges about some people believe that homelessness, if you serve people experiencing homelessness, that you attract them. And we go back to say, well, look at these 700 families that we kept housed, and the more than 460 families that we've gotten housed, and the more that we will continue, and the fact that we have this walk-in resource center that even when people come out of shelter, they come right back through our door if they need help, and so it helps to keep them housed. I think just kind of breaking down the barriers about some people don't want to see homelessness, and homelessness has not been as visible in Ashland as it has been in Medford, for instance, with the Greenway. I'm sorry to say that the wave is coming. The wave of homelessness is still coming across the United States and on the west coast. So there have just been some challenges sometimes around when you're serving a population of folks that can be marginalized. Some neighbors don't want to have them in their neighborhood,
JV: So you're going to be leaving your role as executive director of OHRA. Your last day, I believe, is Friday, October 4. Why are you leaving?
CS: Well, I do believe that having worked with OHRA in this rapid growth and bringing it full circle, and another opportunity came along for me that is near and dear to my heart, and I knew that since OHRA was standing now on four wheels, if you will, and that I've got amazing staff and senior staff and interim staff to help transition to a new executive director. I took a job as the Rogue Community College Foundation Executive Director, and it's important to me because I was a 30-year-old single mom with a six-month-old, facing homelessness, going through a divorce, dissolving a business with that person and my role in that, and I've always said, when you have one finger pointed at somebody, you've got three pointing back at you. And being in that position at 30 years old, I had some junior college credits in my 20s and going back to school and receiving student loans and grants and scholarships, and having had the junior college and then being able to move into a four year college and then go further, and getting my master's degree, and being a single parent that whole time of two amazing boys that are now men, changed the trajectory of my life. It changed my legacy. It changed the trajectory and it changed the legacy of my kids. And so when I think about going to Rogue Community College Foundation as their executive director, they're giving up to a million dollars a year in scholarships to people that were just like me, and so that really speaks to my heart, and I'm ready for that next place in my career.
JV: And what is OHRA's process for finding a new executive director?
CS: We have a search committee, and right now they're looking at resumes that are coming in, and then they will take it to the next level. And we have Ben Bellinson, who is our senior director of operations, who will help transition and oversee the organization while we're in transition to the new executive director. I'll also be providing time over the next 90 days here and there to help fill the gaps with regards to grants, and we manage so many grants. We have a wonderful team of senior staff that are holding all the pieces. Recently, we've been able to build infrastructure and capacity with a grant. And so with all of that growth, we really do have a senior team that are holding all the parts together.
