Oasis Village — A Path of What’s Possible
Recently, while in Bend for the Housing Authorities of Oregon meeting, I took some time to visit Oasis Village in Redmond — and left deeply inspired by what I saw. Oasis Village is more than a shelter; it’s a community-based transitional housing model that offers dignity, safety, and connection for people experiencing homelessness. Coos-Curry Housing Authorities
Oasis Village is built around small, private homes in a supportive setting, where each resident has their own space within a community designed to help with stabilization and connection to services. It’s a low-barrier, transitional village that intentionally fills gaps in the local continuum of care by providing shelter and supports, rather than shelter alone. Oasis Village
What struck me most was how this project came together: from early conversations on outreach, to drawing on regional best practices, to developing partnerships with local organizations and volunteers. Oasis Village didn’t emerge overnight. It began with people doing outreach, building trust, and asking better questions about what safe, transitional housing could look like in Central Oregon. Oasis Village
Since opening in January 2024, the village has welcomed its first residents into heated, private “bedroom shelters” — spaces that provide stability and dignity, with access to case management, community support, and opportunities to build a path toward more permanent housing. The Source - Bend, Oregon Early stories of residents moving into stable housing reflect the power of pairing shelter with ongoing support and choice. Oasis Village
What Oasis Village shows us — and what I saw firsthand during my visit — is that transitional, community-oriented housing can be a meaningful bridge from homelessness to stability. It’s affordable, scalable, and rooted in relationships that help people move forward at their own pace.
For communities working to build their own homelessness responses — whether through village models, shelter campus development, or integrated systems like SPARC — Oasis Village offers several takeaways:
1. People need safety and dignity first.
Private spaces within a supportive structure reduce the trauma of traditional congregate settings and help residents focus on next steps.
2. Outreach and trust matter.
This model grew out of relationships built on the ground — not paperwork. Trust opens doors that plans alone never will.
3. Transitional housing works when tied to supports.
Whether case management, job connections, or community programs, combining shelter with services builds real pathways to stability.
4. Partnerships make it possible.
Government, nonprofits, volunteers, and donors all came together to make Oasis Village a reality — and that’s a blueprint other places can follow.
Oasis Village is not a perfect solution, and it does not solve homelessness on its own. But it does offer a model rooted in humanity and forward motion — one that moves people beyond survival into stability. And for communities willing to listen, adapt, and stay engaged after the plan is written, models like this are worth studying and adapting to local contexts.
I’ll be sharing more lessons from this visit — and what they mean for the work we’re doing with Del Norte Mission Possible, SPARC, and communities across the West Coast — in upcoming posts.
Stay tuned.
By,
Matthew Vorderstrasse, M.A., PHM