The Medford Navigation Center on Market Street.

A final construction push this winter will finish the remodel of Medford’s Navigation Center for homeless individuals and provide space for community organizations to provide wraparound services.

Medford City Council on Dec. 19 authorized spending a $319,087 federal Community Development Block Grant to remodel the front portion of the Navigation Center at 685 Market Street.

Outlier Construction Co., the low bidder, will create a lobby area and office space in 5,100 square feet of the building, which already houses the Kelly Shelter and serves more than 100 people a night.

The remodel will create a space for client intake, add disability bathrooms, new floors, lights, ceiling repair, improve entry and exit access, add bicycle storage and remove hazardous materials.

The Kelly Shelter, formerly on Sixth Street, has moved into the Navigation Center, after undergoing almost $7 million in remodeling previously. Outlier’s work will finish the remaining portion of the Navigation Center.

“That’s the whole building remodeled,” said Sam Engel, executive director of the local nonprofit organization, Rogue Retreat.

The improved entry area will provide a better location for community-service organizations to meet with clients.

Engel said the remodel work should be completed by March 2025.

A number of other organizations help provide support for the Navigation Center such as ACCESS, OnTrack Rogue Valley, Columbia Care, Oasis, Asante and Providence.

Other partners include La Clinica, the Oregon Department of Human Services and Opportunities for Housing Resources and Assistance (OHRA).

“Everybody is doing a piece of the same work,” Engel said.

These other organizations and a new drug deflection program will share office space to provide services for the homeless once the remodeling is completed.

The deflection program allows those caught with small amounts of drugs such as methamphetamine or heroin along the Bear Creek Greenway and other areas to have drug charges dropped if they participate and comply with a drug-treatment program.

Rogue Retreat, the largest homeless shelter provider in Medford, houses up to 450 people a night at various locations.

The Rogue Retreat Crossings, an urban campground off McAndrews Road, is another shelter operation provided by Rogue Retreat, offering 144 small tents and other units. Engel said plans are in the works to expand the program to add another 10 units.

In the longer term, Rogue Retreat needs to find more permanent, affordable housing opportunities for the homeless who have successfully sought treatment options.

Rogue Retreat works closely with the Medford police Livability Team, which has reduced the number of illegal campsites in the city by 96% from 2021.

The city has enacted new ordinances that make it more difficult to pitch tents or throw down bed rolls.

Since 2019, Medford has invested almost $30 million for homelessness-related efforts, resulting in the creation of the Navigation Center and Crossings, among the many shelter operations now available in the city.

The annual operating budget for the organization is about $5 million to $6 million, Engel said.

Engel said Rogue Retreat continues to work on providing an adequate funding stream for its operations and depending less on one-time grants.

“We’re moving towards a more sustainable plan,” he said.