Hope Street Restoration provides jobs for Colville homeless

COLVILLE – Two weeks after leaving prison, Russ Ogg got a job restoring homes. A year and a half later, he has held the job longer than any other he’s had in his adult life.

Ogg, 51, was hired by a new company called Hope Street Restoration, which aims to employ homeless people.

“I’ve learned quite a bit since I’ve been in this job,” said Ogg, who had no prior construction experience and has been homeless for more than 10 years.

Hope Street Restoration trains homeless crew members so they can eventually move to better paying jobs, owner and foreman Shelley Bacon said. So far, the company has restored three homes in Colville.

“I love it,” Shelley Bacon said. “I feel called to do this. I believe I was created on this Earth not to serve myself but to serve other people.”

Hope Street’s current project is their biggest yet: a 3,800 -square-foot, five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath historic 1906 home in need of tender, loving care. When finished, it will sell in the $500,000 range, Shelley Bacon estimates.

Shelley Bacon started the company as an offshoot of her husband Barry Bacon’s nonprofit Hope Street Project, which aims to build affordable housing for homeless people in Colville, the county seat of Stevens County with 5,000 people.

“Most of the homeless people that we serve in this area, more than 90%, have roots in rural northeast Washington,” he said. “So, this is home.”

As a physician, Barry Bacon got involved in the issue as he learned more about homelessness as a serious health disparity. He said lack of housing is a problem in Colville and addressing it is essential to ending homelessness.

Through grants, donations and volunteers, Hope Street Project has built or restored four modest-sized homes for local homeless families to rent or rent-to-own. Now the project is building a duplex. It also has provided no-interest loans for tiny houses and campers.

The other cornerstone of Hope Street is the Rest Stop, a day center where homeless people can shower, do laundry and receive services.

In the summer of 2021, Barry Bacon heard that some local law enforcement officials referred to the Rest Stop in a disparaging way, as “scrub-a-bum.”

Because of that disrespect, he wanted to give homeless people dignity in the eyes of the community.

He pitched the idea of Hope Street Restoration to his wife: to flip houses and sell them on the market.

Restoring houses made sense because both the Bacons have relevant experience. Shelley learned some skills from her father. Barry worked in construction while in college. Together, they built their own home about 10 years ago.

As a business, Hope Street Restoration can achieve four things at once, Barry Bacon said. Not only does it provide jobs for homeless people, it creates more housing for everyone and it beautifies the city by revitalizing former eyesores. With profits, they give back to meaningful causes, like Hope Street Project.

Ogg was Hope Street Restoration’s first employee. They find candidates through the Rest Stop.

Day-to-day, Shelley Bacon teaches her small crew the skills herself. Barry, who still works at his clinic, helps out once a week.

They created some ground rules. Employees have to be sober. No swearing on the job. Treat each other with respect.

“They understand that someone is taking a risk in providing a job for them,” Barry Bacon said. “It’s not easy, because we haven’t solved the issue. They’re still homeless.”

Almost everyone who has worked for them is recovering from addiction. They struggle with attendance, transportation and mental health.

“If you are trying to go to work but you are still living in your car or a tent, it’s hard to get a good night’s sleep,” Barry Bacon said. “It’s hard to be able to come to work refreshed and ready to put in a full day.”

Some relapse.

The result is that it has been hard to keep employees for long. They have had between two and five employees at any given time.

“Every hire is a gamble and very few of them come with any skills,” Shelley Bacon said.

It is not about offering gig work, it’s about helping them maintain regular employment, even if that means part-time.

For Ogg, this opportunity has transformed his life. It has taught him stability, he said. With his tax return last year, he was able to buy a small camper.

During his most recent time in prison, serving a year on drug charges, he decided he had enough and determined to change once he got out. This job has kept him on track.

“I kicked it myself,” Ogg said. “I gave my own self treatment, and this right here is my treatment, this job. That’s what keeps me away.”