Rogue Retreat is remodeling the former Redwood Inn in Medford to create a place for homeless seniors and families with children, as well as people recently discharged from the hospital who don’t have a safe place to recover. 

A long-delayed effort to turn a Medford motel into a family and medical-recovery shelter could be nearing the finish line.

The Medford Urban Renewal Agency Board on Thursday will consider providing $450,000 to pay for the remaining renovation of the Redwood Inn, 722 Riverside Ave.

The 2023 grant to Medford from Oregon Housing and Community Services will specifically target renovation of the second floor of the 47-room motel.

“That would get it all the way done,” said Sam Engel, executive director of Rogue Retreat.

This year, Rogue Retreat, which provides shelter for the homeless, entered into a contract with the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Resilience and Emergency Management, which provided funding for renovation of the first floor as well as long-term medical recovery operations.

The ground floor of the Redwood Inn should be completed by December, and the upper floor by February 2024.

Medford previously provided a separate $450,000 grant in 2021.

Another $120,000 grant from the Providence Foundation was used to create four medical-recovery units.

The purchase of the Redwood Inn was made possible through a $2.5 million state grant to help house fire survivors and the homeless. The state provided an additional $139,000 to help add kitchens to the units.

The Redwood Inn conversion was originally conceived under Project Turnkey, a state grant program that was designed to house survivors of the 2020 fires, including the Almeda Fire.

Since the fire, the goal for use of the Redwood Inn has changed, and its focus will be to create a place for those recently discharged from the hospital as well as for families with children.

Second-floor rooms will be used primarily to house families, as well as seniors, experiencing homelessness. The rooms will also be available for those undergoing medical recovery, who do not need disability access.

The Redwood Inn is the second motel in the valley obtained through Project Turnkey grants.

A 50-room Super 8 motel in Ashland was purchased by Options for Helping Residents of Ashland after receiving a $4.2 million grant.

There has been a growing need for shelter space for families with children in the Medford area.

Several families are already living in the Redwood Inn.

One of the rooms at the Redwood Inn houses a manager and another will be for case manager services.

Engel said having rooms available for people recovering from surgeries is an important feature of the Redwood Inn.

“A discharge plan is important, particularly for those who don’t have a safe place to recover,” he said.

When he worked on the coast several years ago, Engel remembers a man who had just received abdominal surgery.

“A week after the surgery, he came back in with all his staples ripped out,” Engel said. “It was winter and cold, and he said, ‘Somebody’s got to split the firewood.’”

The man was provided with two cords of wood with the understanding he wouldn’t engage in strenuous activities until after he recovered.

The Redwood Inn project ran into financial difficulties last year when Rogue Retreat underwent a change of leadership, stalling the completion of the project.

Harry Weiss, executive director of MURA, said Rogue Retreat appears to have turned the corner and he has confidence that the project will get finished.

“They kind of had the rug pulled out from underneath them,” he said. “They’re really in a good place now.”

The Redwood Inn is located in the Liberty Park neighborhood, and MURA has several projects in the works to improve the low-income area north of downtown.

Weiss said MURA was one of the first to provide a grant for the Redwood Inn conversion.

“We’re the first money in, and now we’re doing the final grant,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the role of the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Resilience and Emergency Management, which provided funding for renovation of the first floor of the Redwood Inn.