Social media post highlights reality of camping in Central Oregon, homeless weigh in
Isabella Warren
(Update: Adding video, comments from poster and homeless)
SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ)– Jill Sweet shares her life on the road as a vanlifer across social media, many of her posts highlighting staying in Central Oregon. But one video is going viral, after Sweet shared she had been harassed by a homeless person living in Sisters.
In the video, Sweet recounts while camping in the Deschutes National Forest, she was approached by a homeless man who began screaming obscenities and telling her to leave.
“He was staring straight at me. I’m still a little bit shaken from the moment,” Sweet told the Problem Solvers.
“He just started screaming, like all these absurdities at me. Like calling me every profanity under the sun. And I went inside. My husband went outside to, like, throw all of our stuff back in the van so we could get out of there. ”
Sweet shares her life on the road as a van-lifer across social media, many of her posts highlight staying in Central Oregon. Now she says she’s worried about her safety camping.
“I haven’t really felt a need to want to go back towards that direction,” she said.
The Problem Solvers spoke with homeless in Sisters, who point to what they call the “bad side” of Sisters.
During our trip to the area, we encountered one camp that was wary of outsiders and not pleased we were in the area. However, they were not hostile and requested not to be on camera.
Wesley Lucas, who lives on the other side of the highway, says Sweet must have camped in that area. “All of the people that you see that are in this line right here all work in town. That’s where all the meth heads are on the other side of the highway. ”
It comes as the region continues to grapple with an increase in homelessness.
Sisters has seen an increase of homeless campers since 2024. According to the Point in Time Count conducted this year, 124 individuals experienced homelessness in the city. That’s up from last year’s count of 64.
When asked if Sisters could have a different situation than Bend’s, Lucas said, “It’s a lot different out here than it would be out of China Hat and all that stuff. Because, here, like I said, us three, we watch out for one another and stuff like that. “