'We did what we had to do': grandmother given temporary home after 5 years in the woods

Trish Gaut is one of more than 7 million grandparents in the U.S. who have become full-time caregivers amid spiraling cost of living, mental health crises. An informal guardianship agreement prevented her from getting the assistance she needed to get out of the woods. Social stigma almost kept her there.

Trish Gaut sits outside Central Oregon Villages where she lives in Bend. After living in a fifth-wheel in La Pine for approximately five years, Gaut connected to resources through Thrive and moved into the Villages in August. She said being out of the elements and not having to constantly worry about a generator for heating have been huge reliefs. Photo by Joe Kline.

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By DAVID DUDLEY

FORJournalism Lab

Patricia "Trish" Gaut sat on a wooden picnic table beneath a tree on a warm September morning. The sun was out and Gaut, who was born in Bend and raised in Alfalfa, smiled.

"I'm so happy to be out of the forest," she said. "I didn't know when, or if, I'd ever have a home again."

Just a few weeks before speaking with FORJournalism, Gaut, 57, was living with her teenage grandson in a van at Reynolds Pond, near Alfalfa. Before that, they camped for five years in the woods in La Pine.

Gaut said she felt broken when they arrived to those woods. Her husband, Shawn Gaut, was alive then. But the 52-year-old USPS carrier, who Gaut said was loved by everyone he met, died after suffering a heart attack on Halloween in 2021.

Still, Gaut smiled as she soaked up the sun at the corner of Franklin Avenue and 5th Street in Bend, where she shares one of four cabins with her grandson. FORJournalism is not naming Gaut's grandson to protect his privacy. The cabins, run by Central Oregon Villages, opened in August. They give unhoused families temporary shelter while they get back on their feet.

But Gaut nearly reasoned herself out of that crucial assistance. She said that, though she and her family have worked hard and paid taxes their entire lives, she feels shame because of her situation.

"That shame discouraged us from seeking help," she said. "It made me feel like it would be better to stay out there, so that we wouldn't be judged."

'We did what we had to do'

The Gauts weren't always homeless. They lived in Bend for many years before moving to La Pine. They were asked to move by their former landlord after they'd taken in Gaut's daughter, along with her five kids, more than six years ago.

"It was just a two-bedroom apartment, so it was cramped," Gaut said. "The landlord got fed up, and gave us the boot.

Gaut hoped to get a bigger place, but rent had become unaffordable. With nowhere else to go, they moved to the woods in La Pine to be closer to the Circle K where Shawn worked at the time. He got a pay raise when he went to work as a carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, but it wasn't enough.

Trish Gaut holds a framed photograph of her husband, Shawn Gaut, outside Central Oregon Villages where she lives in Bend. Shawn died in 2021 after suffering a heart attack. Trish said he worked hard doing multiple jobs to help improve their family’s situation. Photo by Joe Kline.

"Even with those jobs, we couldn't afford the rent," Gaut said. "So, we wound up camping in the woods."

Gaut said that she worked full time for several local companies, including Everclear Cleaning Services and Red Lion, as a janitor and a housekeeper. But when her health failed, she could no longer work.

"Supporting us fell to my husband," she said. "But he was unwell…

"He had diabetes, and he had two heart attacks before he died," Gaut added after a pause. "Throughout that time, we did what we had to do. But it was hard."

Rejected repeatedly

Gaut is one of more than seven million grandparents who have lived with a grandchild under the age of 18 since 2020, according to "When Grandparents Become Parents to their Grandchildren," a study published by North Dakota State University.

The authors of the study found that the rise in grandparents becoming full-time caregivers is driven by economic instability, mental health challenges, including substance use disorder, incarceration, homelessness, failing physical health and death.

A 2021 study found that nearly 18,000 grandparents in Oregon had become parents to their grandkids. Gaut has cared for her grandson since he was 3. Today, he's 15.

Trish Gaut shows a framed photograph of her husband, Shawn Gaut, outside Central Oregon Villages where she lives in Bend. Shawn worked as a mail carrier and had to support the family after Trish’s health declined. Shawn died in 2021. Photo by Joe Kline.

Dr. Claire Herbert is an associate professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene. An expert in housing and homelessness, Herbert said that even as Gaut's situation is becoming more common, significant barriers to accessing assistance remain.

"Many families navigate those situations by using informal arrangements," Herbert said. "They don't go through the courts, because they're hoping their adult children will find ways to improve their respective situations."

Until then, grandparents who have become full-time caregivers can't access resources, because they haven't been granted legal custody. As the cost of living has spiked across the country, grandparents like Gaut have to contend with ballooning expenses, and difficulty accessing assistance.

"We were rejected repeatedly for assistance," Gaut said. "It took a long time to get the help we needed. It's part of why we wound up homeless."

Looking for a way out

A rotating cast of family members had lived with the Gauts in a small encampment in the woods north of La Pine that consisted of various vehicles and tents.

Gaut’s daughter had acquired a 5th-wheel camper, then moved to an apartment in Bend. She left the camper, which increased the quality of life for Gaut and her grandson. Then, in the wake of the China Hat sweep, which in May displaced hundreds of unhoused people from the woods south of Bend, and as the number of human-caused fires was on the rise, law enforcement began ordering campers to leave the woods.

"A policeman came to our camp one day," Gaut said. "He told us we had to be gone within a week, or we'd be arrested, and our things taken away. I didn't know what to do."

Gaut bristled at the notion that the majority of unhoused people are using drugs. She said she returned to La Pine to retrieve her 5th-wheel camper—but it had been stripped of many parts.

"There are families out there, too," she added. "People who have kids and they can't afford to live here. I know, because I'm one of them."

Everything changes

With nowhere to go, Gaut returned to Alfalfa to camp near Reynolds Pond. Gaut and her grandson lived there for only a few weeks before meeting with Thrive Central Oregon.

The local nonprofit is a resource hub. Thrive's advocates connect clients to services and resources to help with things like housing, rental assistance, food and other necessities.

Trish Gaut sits at a picnic table outside Central Oregon Villages where she lives in Bend. Gaut lives with her grandson in the Villages. Photo by Joe Kline.

"They took my information, and within two weeks we were offered this cabin," Gaut said, tilting her chin toward the cabin.

That stroke of luck came just in the nick of time. Gaut's grandson was preparing to enter his sophomore year of high school. With just one week before the school year began, he didn't know which school he'd attend, or whether he'd have to switch schools during the year, should they be displaced from one camp or another.

Gaut said that lack of income and poor credit acquired when desperate are barriers to getting into an apartment. But having a home, no matter the size, has taken a great weight off her shoulders. And the human connection that comes with receiving help with care has lifted her spirits.

"Everything changes when someone gives you a second chance," she said, "when someone has faith in you again. When they handed me the keys to this little place, I felt like a new woman."

Homelessness: Real Stories, Real Solutions (realstoriesrealsolutions.org) is a journalism lab funded by Central Oregon Health Council under FORJournalism (forjournalism.org), an Oregon nonprofit dedicated to supporting journalism statewide. Sign up for weekly newsletters to receive updates.