KarunaNews Story

Last July, 12,700 residents of Deschutes County, Oregon, were invited to enter a lottery to select 30 to deliberate for five days on youth homelessness as part of a citizens’ assembly. The assembly lasted five full days, spread across two weekends. The residents, who ranged from their teens to their 80s, included a retired pipe fitter, I.T. specialist, restaurant manager, worker at a local bullet manufacturer, and several small-business owners. Some rented apartments; others owned spacious homes. About half were politically unaffiliated, with the other half split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Twenty-two recommendations, with 75% of delegates either agreeing or strongly agreeing, were presented to the Bend City Council, county commissioners, and a body of formerly homeless young people called the Central Oregon Youth Action Board.