45-year-old Woman's death in the outdoors in TD shakes up houseless situation
By Tom Peterson
Shana Marie Henry
The Dalles, Ore., Nov. 27, 2023 - The Warming Shelter at the St. Vincent de Paul community meals site at 315 W. Third Street will be open again tonight, Nov. 27, after a 45-year-old houseless woman was found deceased next to the railroad tracks in The Dalles on Saturday.
While officials have not given a cause of death at this point, local social workers say that Shana Marie Henry did not have a fentanyl addiction and was given a tent and sleeping bag in recent weeks to fend off the cold at night.
On Saturday, Nov. 25, temperatures dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit in The Dalles. Henry was reported deceased at 10:31 a.m. the same morning.
CCCNews has requested information from the Wasco County Medical Examiner in regard to the cause of death. We will follow up when information becomes available.
“There is no indication of criminality,” said The Dalles Police Chief Tom Worthy. “It’s really in the hands of the medical examiner. The temperature could be a contributing factor, but we don’t know that it is a proximate cause, meaning the main contributing cause.”
Warming Shelter operator Deborah Sandoz said Henry’s passing helped speed along the decision to open the shelter after working with the local St. Vincent de Paul Society board.
“Even if there was something else even medical illness - icy cold weather likely contributed,” Sandoz said of Henry’s death.
And the weather just looks to be getting worse. Temperatures are expected to stay in the 20s during the next four nights and then the heat-sapping rain looks to be setting in for the following week with temperatures in the 40s and 30s.
“We are going to open the warming place for five nights starting tonight,” stated the St. Vincent de Paul - The Dalles Facebook on Sunday, Nov. 26. “We will only be able to do this if we get some volunteers to cover the nights. If you worked during the previous winters, we could use your assistance. We have already had one death from cold weather this week. The warming place operated with up to 150 volunteers in past years. Our giant staff of three cannot pull this off without the community's help. Contact us at 541-296-9566 to volunteer or if you have questions.
Earlier today, Nov. 27, Sandoz said she was driving into the warming shelter today when she saw a familiar person hobbling on a crutch down the street in the bitter cold.
She pulled over to find the man was wearing shoes two sizes too small and his foot was no longer working.
His shoe had to be cut off.
“We discovered he is going to lose his foot and the bottom part of his leg,” she said. “It’s messed up, bad.”
“We all just need to work together,” Sandoz said. “These are people - before they started doing drugs, they were somebody’s child… I just try to love them. That’s all I can do.”
Sandoz said donations of unexpired food, sleeping bags, blankets, boots, and men’s clothing would help houseless folks immensely. Items can be dropped off at the warming shelter.
Scott Mauser, 67, The Dalles outside the warming shelter at the St. Vincent de Paul site on Third Street in The Dalles.
This afternoon, Nov. 27, it was clear the 45-year-old’s passing was reverberating through the houseless community.
Scott Mauser, 67, of The Dalles was standing outside the warming shelter. He said he was well aware of the recent death. He spent the night at the community meals site on Sunday, Nov. 26, noting he and about 20 others were already nearby when the shelter opened its doors.
Another man standing nearby, who did not want to be identified, said it was ironic that people were freezing in campsites that are within a few blocks of two shelters. He said he camps outside even when a shelter is available because he cannot take his bike and belongings - his survival materials - inside the site for safekeeping.
Mid-Columbia Community Action Council’s non-congregate shelter site in The Dalles is open year-round and is located at The Annex at 200 W. 2nd Street. Shelter guest intakes take place from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. every weekday. For more information about available shelter beds or other emergency lodging resources available to Wasco and Sherman County residents during severe winter weather events, fill out a shelter intake form here or call (541) 980- 0855.
But the Annex is not for everyone. Only the willing.
One houseless person we spoke to openly said he could neither abide by the rules at the Annex nor did he want to be inside. “We have our own rules we live by,” he said.
Others said they had been chronically houseless, living on the streets for years or even decades.
This 61-year-old houseless man walks the railroad tracks near the camp where Henry was found on Saturday Morning, Nov. 23. It is about two blocks from the St. Vincent de Paul warming shelter site and about three blocks from the Annex. He was heading to St. Vincent through the bitter wind for a shower after spending the night next to the Columbia River.
One 61-year-old man said he had a dog and non-service dogs were not allowed, but he was making due with two sleeping bags next to the Columbia River. He said he attempted to get a petition going several years back to have a place in The Dalles where houseless people could camp outright, and not be rousted out by property owners.
“This town has no heart,” he said. “Or at least, there are more than enough that don’t.”
Martin Rivas and Shelley Hansen with Bridges to Change were on hand this afternoon, handing out blankets from the Thompson Park parking lot.
Across the tracks from where we were walking, I could see Shelley Hansen and Martin Rivas with Bridges to Change, a program helping people in recovery. They were in the Thompson Park parking lot next to The Dalles Aquatic Center.
They were handing out blankets, hats, gloves, water and snack bags - they do it the last Monday of every month when people’s resources run low.
The pair said they knew Shana Henry, and she had received a sleeping bag and tent in recent weeks.
“It goes to show you it’s not enough,” Rivas said.
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Editors Note: Courtney Crawford, who brought this situation to our attention, has created a nonprofit called Columbia Gorge Community Shelter. She and Sandoz are working with The Dalles City Councilor Tim McGlothlin on finding a location. Crawford said the 501c3 is set up but now needs funding and volunteers. She can be reached at 1-518-524-1936.
“I wish people did not have to die for things to change,” Crawford said.
