Hope University
Sharing ways to bring hope and stability to your community.
Our vision is a world where all unsheltered people have a place to call home and are empowered to strengthen the quality of their lives. Through Hope University, we provide online and on-site training for communities outside Southern Oregon, so that cities and leaders can create, fund, and operate their own successful housing and job readiness programs.
“This has been really helpful to see a success story. I think there’s a lot of conversation about what could be tried, but it’s great to see something working on the ground like this.”
– Tonya Graham, City Councilor, Ashland, OR
Teaching the Rogue Retreat Model of Success
Together with our partners and local leaders, we’ve created a multi-faceted supportive network of shelter sites and transitional housing alongside an array of comprehensive, wrap-around supportive services. In this partnership continuum, supportive services are the main ingredient and are available at all levels of shelter and housing.
HOPE: Lifts the broken hearted, sparks belief in positive outcomes, and infuses the model with goodness.
FUNDERS: Individuals and organizations who invest time, money, goods, or services that furthers our vision and mission.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS: A comprehensive network of community service providers that join with us to help participants reach their highest potential.
SUPPORTIVE SERVICES: Rogue Retreat’s “Secret Sauce” is the framework that restores lives by providing guidance, counseling, and referrals to Community Partners who focus on overcoming barriers.
SHELTER & HOUSING: Creative, innovative, and temporary shelter and housing. solutions that stabilize formerly homeless program participants and gives them a place to call home.
Collaboration with partners
Our partnership-based model has not only helped participants restore their lives, but also helped transform our regional communities in Jackson and Josephine counties. Through a comprehensive partnership with the City of Medford and many others, this model has attracted leaders from outside of Southern Oregon who want to learn from our experience.
Developing a hands-on program
Through our Hope University hands-on program, we educate and train other communities to help their homeless neighbors. We do this through a lens of collaboration and wrap-around facilitation, all while providing participants with the necessary ingredient — hope.
“I really appreciated the training provided to many of us on Tuesday. You did a great job of orchestrating a large amount of information very articulately & concisely into a short period of time! I am very grateful to have it & will be sending the materials on to others in the community.”
– Nancy Brown, Mt Vernon, WA
How can Hope University help your community?
Our goal is not to expand Rogue Retreat outside of Southern Oregon, but rather to empower other communities to write their own stories of success. Hope University workshops and offerings are modeled after our own practices, while being custom-tailored to each city or region. While not an exhaustive list, these offerings include:
Homeless Needs Assessment
Hope University will meet with leaders from local advocacy and outreach groups, and also connect with and speak with homeless neighbors. An assessment report is provided with potential actions to meet immediate needs.
On-Demand Coaching & Technical Support
Our faculty will provide on-demand coaching and technical support for safe shelter, support, and resources that are culturally informed, and promote self-reliance, dignity, hope, and holistic healing.
Community Survey
We will facilitate a survey of community leaders, partners, and service providers to capture input on community needs. These results will be transcribed and used to help create a unifying regional vision.
Leadership Expansion
Hope University will provide tours of programs in both Medford and Grants Pass, Oregon, as well as in-person training with leaders of Rogue Retreat.
One-Day Strategic Planning Session
Work with Hope University staff to identify a community vision, create a community SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and establish an action plan that is unique to your community.
Results-Oriented Action Plan
On-Demand Coaching & Technical Support
Shared Learning
We customize and deliver certificate-based and “best practice” training in a variety of behavioral, mental health, and trauma-informed care for leaders and staff in your region.
“We have learned through the years what to do and what not to do. If we can share with other groups what we have learned to inspire them and support them, we will be excited and honored to serve.”
– Chad McComas, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Case Study: Roseburg, Oregon
A January 2020 survey found 845 people in Douglas county who were identified as homeless, including 183 under the age of 18. At least five homeless individuals in the area died the year prior, and three more homeless people were found dead in January.
Rogue Retreat’s Hope University consulting and training program helped the Roseburg Homeless Commission conduct a Community Needs Assessment for those who are unsheltered. The process of creating an action plan for improving homeless safety services in the Roseburg community began in March of 2021.
The first step in advising this plan was through conducting a needs survey with unsheltered individuals, an online community survey for the service providers in the community, and zoom and phone interviews with community leaders.
In total, over 80 members of the Roseburg community took part in helping draft this assessment and action plan for the community to execute. The results were reviewed at a Strategic Planning meeting that was conducted on April 14th, 2021, the report and action plan were presented and reviewed by the Homeless Commission and City Staff on April 26th, 2021.
Some of the needs that stood out with the unsheltered who were surveyed included:
- Access to more Domestic Violence (DV) shelter beds.
- A low-barrier shelter/year-round shelters
- Warming Centers and Cooling Centers
- A family shelter
- A youth shelter
- A space to be (much like an organized Urban Campground)
- Access to bathrooms, trash cans, showers, and laundry
- More medical outreach (mobile medical and dental outreach)
- Pet-friendly shelter spaces
This information that was gathered helped inform the vision that was created which states:
“Roseburg envisions an inclusive community where all feel safe, supported, and have the opportunity to work towards becoming self-sufficient. This will be accomplished through building a sustainable, coordinated social service-based network to address the needs of the unhoused. Lasting success will be founded on the principle of collective engagement with the entire community.”
Identifying Goals
In order to achieve this goal, the homeless commission will begin creating tactical sub-committees that will focus on accomplishing some short-term goals first, which will lead the way for more program creation. The short-term goals that were identified were:
- Navigation Center that Roseburg has received funding to create.
- Identify the lead organization or organizations to help stand up and operate the programs. The lead organization or organizations will have the bottom-line responsibility of managing the day-to-day operations of the programs.
- Create a comprehensive property inventory for potential program development.
- Facilitate a forum to develop a perspective and strategy related to information sharing and referrals.
- Create an outreach and livability sub-committee of the homeless commission to focus just on the short-term needs of the homeless.
- Investigate potential ordinance updates to help create a pathway for program creation.
Goal Progress
- The lead organization to operate the Navigation center has been identified – the City of Roseburg has enlisted the services of the United Community Action Network (UCAN).
Rogue Retreat will work with the Homeless Commission to Establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help provide coaching, consulting, and training services.
“The City [of Roseburg] is so grateful for the partnership we have formed with Rogue Retreat and is excited to see the positive outcomes from implementing a program to assist our homeless based on Rogue Retreat principles and programs. The part I can’t stress enough is the incredible support we have received from the staff at Rogue Retreat.”
– AMY SOWA, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/CITY RECORDER – CITY OF ROSEBURG, OR
Contact Us about Hope University
Hope University costs are built around the needs of each community. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with our Rogue Retreat team, or to be added to our Hope University email list.
