A local nonprofit has taken over management of Ashland’s night lawn, where people experiencing homelessness can camp, under a six-month pilot program.
Opportunities for Housing, Resources, and Assistance, or OHRA, plans to introduce assigned spaces, a 25-tent limit and site improvements following longstanding concerns about overcrowding, drinking water and safety.
OHRA Executive Director Dan Cano said the site will not be staffed around the clock. Instead, the nonprofit will provide intermittent overnight monitoring and hire a full-time community sheltering coordinator to oversee the lawn.
Cano said the goal is to test what works while providing consistent rule enforcement and more stability for the people staying there.
“[Previously,] there was a sense of unfairness because there was no consistent one person that understood all the relationships, understood all the rules, reminded new people that were showing up what the rules are," he said.
Planned changes include raised sleeping platforms, cameras, a women-only section, more storage, drinking water and additional fencing.
OHRA will gradually reduce the number of tents to 25 over the coming weeks.
The city will pay OHRA $57,500 for the six-month period to cover the coordinator position and portable toilets.
Although the site previously lacked a dedicated manager, Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara said officers spent considerable time there enforcing rules, including when people had to leave in the morning.
“That's not a conversation that a police officer needs to have with somebody,” he said. “This is a great relief for that to be in the hands of OHRA going forward.”
The pilot began Sept. 28 and runs through March 30, 2027. Cano said he intends to continue OHRA’s management beyond then.
Before the pilot ends, the city plans to hold a series of meetings to develop a long-term vision for the lawn.
