Read the stories from The Bulletin's Faces of Homelessness series
Who are the real people impacted by skyrocketing housing prices, decisions about homeless shelters or plans to sweep informal camps? The Bulletin wants to offer insight by telling their stories through the series Faces of Homelessness. Every two weeks in 2022, Bulletin reporters introduced readers to a different homeless person. The series concluded in December, when reporters revisited the people they profiled and found that most remain homeless.
Navigating to Mark Pitzer’s campsite on a rugged stretch of forest land east of Redmond requires a vehicle with four-wheel drive and an except…
LA PINE — In the forest east of town, a group of nine individuals have parked their trucks and campers in a spot they call Camp Corona, so nam…
Single mother Kim Varner tries to build a life for her 6-year-old daughter every day. But raising her little bundle of energy in their fifth-w…
For Rejena Wenciker, the “Fishbowl” at Juniper Ridge offers a sense of relative safety.
Dirt World used to be relatively quiet when Krista Bahr first started living there with her boyfriend around six years ago.
REDMOND — Glen Gray smiled as he drank his neon blue and red 7-Eleven Slurpee. The 59-year-old didn’t seem to mind the 96-degree heat blasting…
Bend feels different now than it did two years ago for Joshua Hansen.
Redmond couple Tammy and Calvin Edgerly, and their dog, Dixie, loaded into a Pontiac Grand Am a few months ago, eventually pushed the car into…
Danielle McGovern prefers to sleep in a tent closer to the stars and trees. The 52-year-old’s nearby trailer is reserved for the months-old ch…
Cheryl Voneps, 61, defies her multiple sclerosis by living the way she wants.
U.S. Army veteran John Steele struggled for years to get help before fellow veterans came to his aid.
SISTERS — Like a lot of people who come to Central Oregon, Chuck Morse wanted to retire to the High Desert.
Bonnie Jenkins and her son, Richard Ostland, along with their two dogs and a cat, have been mainstays at the Bend Emergency Shelter run by the…
Sharline and Katrina Greene sometimes finish each other’s sentences.
Michael Parker doesn’t consider himself homeless.
Four years ago, Bend resident Katelyn Barlow and her boyfriend, Josh Bennett, were preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the U.K. Bennett…
When sheriff’s deputies evicted Tessy Moon from her Redmond home, she told her children they were going camping.
John spent most of his career working the line inside a lumber mill in Redmond. Sorting the lumber year after year was hard work, but at the e…
Growing up in Warm Springs, Keilani Charley’s parents were absent a lot, so she “bounced around” with relatives and foster families.
As it neared zero degrees on a clear, starry night in Central Oregon, Daniel “Dray” Aguirre switched on his Mr. Heater inside a snow-covered t…
The ponderosa pines growing along China Hat Road in Deschutes National Forest stand as they have for centuries. Although these days, they towe…
Heather Fluke used to tell homeless people to move along as part of her job.
Adrian Palmer hates the word homeless.
Nathanael Islas has had a hard time catching a break.
The Redmond apartment John Breen shared with his wife and son fit the family's budget. Then the landlord raised the rent and their home went f…
As featured on
There was no shortage of news in 2022.
When it came to illustrating The Bulletin's year-long project, Faces of the Homeless, staff …
Daniel “Dray” Aguirre almost didn’t graduate.
(2) comments
I applaud the Bulletin for the series The Faces of Homelessness. The stories reminded me that each homeless person has his or her own story. Each one became homeless as the result of an experience or set of experiences that could have occurred to me or to ones I know and love. So, thank you for reducing that distance that makes it so easy to dismiss the plight of others. I am encouraged by local efforts to address the problem of homelessness.
After reading Zach's column on the homeless articles and why he got into journalism I wanted to say thank you. I had the good fortune of inviting a "homeless woman" who had been living in her truck in Sisters, into my home for about three months. During that time I learned so much about my own biases and the worth of all people. She was a housemate that became a friend and we have stayed in touch. I am so glad I "took the chance" by reaching out when a need became apparent. I encourage others to do the same.
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