The Rogue Valley’s largest homeless shelter organization almost collapsed last year but has since reorganized and managed to plug a $2 million budget hole.

“We need to tell the community, supporters and our staff that the financial turnaround is complete,” said Bill Ihle, who stepped in as interim executive director of Rogue Retreat last year. “We’ve also put in financial safeguards so we can’t get there again.”

The nonprofit has an annual budget of $5 million and has 70 employees who help support shelters that keep up to 500 homeless people off the streets every night, also providing them with hot meals. Donations from the community have helped resolve the financial crisis, with the largest coming from the city of Medford, which provided $1.35 million.

The money is used for the operations of the Urban Campground, Hope Village, the Navigation Center and apartments.

To get back on firm financial footing, Rogue Retreat had to cut back operations in Grants Pass, turning those facilities over to another organization. Rogue Retreat is also in the process of withdrawing from Talent, Ihle said.

When he agreed to take over as interim executive officer, Ihle said, he didn’t know the depth of the organization’s financial problems. Four accountants were tapped to review the books and to help establish a financial path forward.

“Failure in my mind was not an option,” said Ihle, CEO of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Oregon.

Medford, already facing tremendous strains from homeless issues, would have suddenly had hundreds more homeless on the streets if Rogue Retreat had failed, he said.

While the organization has retreated somewhat, it also expanded in other areas and put a sharper focus on serving homeless people in Jackson County.

Rogue Retreat’s board of directors is now more involved in the organization’s financials, reviewing its budget line by line, Ihle said.

Rogue Retreat has added a licensed clinical social worker and started staff training, particularly in trauma care to help deal with some of the severe mental health and addiction problems faced by some homeless people. The management team has refocused its efforts and has weekly one-on-one sessions and other training.

Ihle said the organization has reaffirmed its nondiscrimination policy. Last year, Rogue Retreat took heat from the LGBTQ community over allegations that “conversion therapy” was promoted at Set Free Ministry, the church of the former executive director, Chad McComas.

The city of Medford temporarily paused its grant funding for Rogue Retreat to investigate the allegations, ultimately finding them to be unproven.

At the same time, the organization saw funding related to the pandemic and from the Almeda Fire start to dry up, creating a financial crisis. Rogue Retreat has been reorganized enough to better handle financial strains in the future, Ihle said.

Dee Anne Everson, CEO and executive director of United Way of Jackson County, said her organization offered to pay for someone from Consumer Credit Counseling to continue seeking grants for Rogue Retreat. She also offered her time to help the organization through this rough patch.

“They fell into really serious trouble,” she said. “They were pretty overextended.”

Without Rogue Retreat, the Medford area would have had hundreds more unhoused people on the streets, she said.

“It was too important to fail,” Everson said.

“We need to tell the community, supporters and our staff that the financial turnaround is complete.”

— Bill Ihle, who stepped in as interim executive director of Rogue Retreat last year