Grant County officials are in the second phase of a grant process that would allow them to acquire hotels to turn into housing facilities for people impacted by wildfires, COVID-19 and those released from incarceration as they enter back into society.

According to the Oregon Community Fund website, Project Turnkey is a statewide program that converts motels and hotels to permanent transitional or emergency housing. The grant provides a total of $65 million.

The community fund’s webpage noted that the state established two funds: one totaling $30 million to be awarded in counties and tribal communities impacted by the 2020 wildfires; and one totaling $35 million for the remaining 28 counties in the state.

County Commissioner Sam Palmer, who attended a meeting with the county’s steering committee earlier this month, said in an email April 7 that Grant and Umatilla counties are the only two counties on the east side of the state looking at the grant.

Grant County adult probation director Mike McManus said OCF’s grant representatives are working “pretty close” with the county because they want a “frontier community” like Grant County to be a part of the program.

The National Center for Frontier Communities defines a frontier community as a sparsely populated area geographically isolated from population centers and services.

Both Palmer and McManus emphasized that it is early in the process. For his part, McManus said he does not know how much the county would receive if the state awarded Grant County with the grant.

Nonetheless, he said conceptually that the grant would work because the state would buy a local hotel and pay the appraisal and operating costs for the short term.

He said there are hotels that they have in mind, but he declined to comment on which ones.

McManus said the program would be beneficial for drug offenders and addicts reentering society.

As a probation officer, he said when he sends someone to drug treatment — be it in Baker City or Pendleton — when they return to Grant County, more often than not, they have a difficult time continuing their sobriety.

He said for the county to have a transitional house where they can work their way back into the community locally would be a plus for the county.

He said finding housing is a significant barrier for many recovering drug addicts coming out of jail.

McManus said, while there is no “solid plan” at this point, a transitional housing facility would provide people with “another avenue” where they would have ongoing treatment and other services.