Hood House will provide housing for five homeless Salem women

There's so much wrong going on in the world, it's refreshing to be able to report on something very much right.

Russ and Delana Beaton, long-time advocates for the homeless here in Salem, Oregon, have created an innovative housing opportunity for five previously homeless women.

The Beatons are members of a monthly discussion group that my wife and I belong to, so we've been kept up to date on the progress of their Hood House -- named for the street it sits on in northeast Salem.

Here's how Hood House was described by Delana in an emailed invite to last Tuesday's open house.

Last December Russ and I purchased a five bedroom two story home at 1160 Hood Street NE to be used to house five women age 55 and older who have low fixed incomes and have been priced out of market rent housing.

 

It has taken many long months of extensive renovation and dealing with a variety of challenges. But, finally, Hood House is ready to receive its first occupants. The whole home is scrubbed, painted, furnished and decorated.  Kitchen and bathrooms are renovated and upgraded. ARCHES is actively looking for women to refer under their Coordinated Entry System (CES). 

 

We are excited and hope you can come to our Open House to show friends of Hood House how it looks now and what will welcome the first five women.  This will be permanent housing and will be their home.  I will facilitate a weekly house meeting for processing concerns that might arise.  We plan to take dinner in weekly at the same time.

 

Open House will be Tuesday, July 30, from 3:30 - 5:30 PM.  Light refreshments will be served.   Hope you can come!

Not only could I come, so did my iPhone. It was great to see Mayor Chuck Bennett at the open house, along with City Councilors Chris Hoy and Cara Kaser. Other councilors and City officials may have come before or after my visit. Here's photos of Hood House, along with my commentary.

I believe the house was built in the 1920s. Or maybe 1940s. Regardless, it used to be in much worse shape than it is now. Looks very inviting from the sidewalk. 

Inside the front door the Beatons had put up a sheet giving credit to everybody who made Hood House possible. Reflecting their wonderful humility, they'd put their own names way down at the bottom. But of course Russ and Delana deserve the bulk of the credit for this creative way of providing a place to live for five homeless women.

Here's the Mission Statement of Hood House. Click to enlarge. I'll also share the statement below.

It is the mission of Hood House to create a comfortable, attractive, affordable, and safe home for five women, each of whom is age 55 or older, and is of limited financial means. Each woman will have a separate, private and lockable bedroom. All common spaces -- kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, bathrooms, laundry room, front porch, back deck, and lower patio -- will be shared and managed cooperatively by the residents. Hood House is permanent housing, not transitional.

At our last discussion group meeting, Delana had shared the tale of the Too Low Microwave. When an inspector from the City of Salem came by, the Beatons were told that the recently-installed microwave was six inches too close to the stovetop.

So the cabinets above the stove had to be cut down at considerable expense. That was just one of many hurdles Delana and Russ had to overcome to make the dream of Hood House a reality.

The living room is adjacent to a nice covered rear deck. The floors look great. Now. It took a lot of work to remove whatever was on top of the wood, the details of which I've forgotten.

This is one of the bedrooms.

Here's another bedroom. Some of the furniture was donated. But I'm pretty sure the Beatons found most of the used furniture at thrift stores and other places. The energy and enthusiasm they put into this complex house renovation project was amazing.

I'm 70, younger than Russ and Delana are. But whenever they talked about what they had to do to get the house ready for occupancy, I got exhausted just listening to a description of all that work.

Another bedroom. Being sort of matching-impaired myself, I was impressed with the coordinated color scheme in each bedroom, as well as the whole house.

After someone brought flowers and set them on a table, I was struck by how well they matched a piece of art in the front room. (My iPhone's camera had trouble dealing with sunlight streaming through the window.)

The cake was delicious. And the message is going to bring smiles to the five women who end up living in Hood House.

Lots of people have lots of opinions about how to deal with Salem's homeless problem. It's super-inspiring that Russ and Delana Beaton, who already have been putting in many, many hours of volunteer service to homeless people, decided to go one big step further and bring Hood House into being.

Comments

[Vernelle]

The Beaton’s are my heroes! Thank YOU!

[Norm]

What a wonderful example of what can be accomplished for the homeless!

[Sharron Apple]

Delana and Russ Beaton,

You are also my heroes,This act of kindness is such a blessing, not only for the women who will now have a beautiful and safe home but also for our community, as we witness what you have made possible we have hope. Thank you and bless you!

This is an entirely positive and welcome article. Thank you Brian Hines.

[Susan Tanabe]

Professor Russ Beaton (ret., Willamette University) and counsels Delana Beaton (ret., South Salem Hugh School) are community leaders and truly inspiring treasures.

[Cesie Delve Scheuermann]

Thank you, Russ and Delana. What an awesome way to inspire us to do more!

[Rain Trueax]

It sounds like a great idea and beautiful application of it. I hope you keep track of how this works out for the women and the house over the next few years. Through the internet i know of several women who have benefited from finding help with their housing. It can be a problem.

[Skyline]

A beautiful example of how wonderful things can go when the private sector operates freely without government involvement.
My mother in law operated a care home in the 1980s and had several elderly seniors in her home.
On the other hand; looking to government, that can't seem to keep from screwing up a root beer float, for answers is a lost cause.
GREAT JOB, Russ and Delana.
You set a good example!

[Caren Banks]

Awesome!! How do we do more??!
This is such a step in the right direction!! Where's the next one??

[Brian Sund]

I had the honor and privilege of watching the Beatons being recognized for their tireless efforts, at the annual City of Salem Volunteer Recognition Awards event tonight. What a blessing to our community, and an inspiration for each us to do what we can to make a positive difference for those who experience homelessness. Their commitment is above and beyond the call of duty. Brian, thank you for writing and posting this article.

[Loretta]

I am Homeless and need a safe place to live I hope you have a room ...