Winter is coming: Join our Egan volunteers
3 min read
from Egan Warming Centers
Now that cold and wet weather has returned, we’re in full preparation mode for that first night below 30 degrees. We’ve opened in October in two of the last few years, so we need to be ready.
Our Eugene sleep shelter sites are the same as last winter:
- Trinity United Methodist off River Road (primary)
- Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in the South Hills
- Temple Beth Israel (typically used as back-up)
- Eugene Mission in Whiteaker (also back-up)
- Lane Events Center (when it is available because of its capacity and proximity to downtown)
- Our Youth Site at First United Methodist Church
One big change: While First Christian Church in downtown Eugene will again be our transportation hub, where our guests can take shuttles to outlying sites, we will not be running First Christian Church as an all-night non-sleep room. Finding downtown shelter space continues to be a real challenge.
Springfield: We learned just this week that we will have the Memorial Building for at least one more year – yay! St. John the Divine Episcopal near Gateway is available as back-up.
We are in critical need of additional shelter space in both cities in case of extreme need or as back-up. We continue to work with city, county and community partners to identify additional and future space, whether faith-based, government, or commercial.
Watch for announcements about October Saturday get-ready events at St. Vincent de Paul’s Seneca warehouse, where all of our Egan supplies are stored. It’s time to open up the containers, clean, sort, re-stock, and get ready to deploy to our shelter sites as needed. We typically schedule these for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or so with lunch provided.
New Volunteer Orientations: Except for the in-person session as noted below, all orientations are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. via Zoom. Interested persons should email Kim at egan.volunteers@svdp.us. Please help recruit new volunteers by spreading the word.
- Wednesday, Oct. 18
- Saturday, Oct. 21, 10:30 a.m., IN-PERSON & Zoom hybrid (location to be determined)
- Tuesday, Oct. 24
- Wednesday, Nov. 1
- Thursday, Nov. 9
- Tuesday, Nov. 14
- Thursday, Nov. 30
Volunteer De-Escalation Training #1: Thursday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. via Zoom. To RSVP, please email Kim at egan.volunteers@svdp.us and she will send a Zoom link before Oct. 26. This training is encouraged, but not required.
Leadership Training Day: Saturday, Oct. 28, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Valley Covenant Church, 3636 W. 18th Ave., Eugene.
Calling all site, shift, medical, pet and other leads – and any of you interested in stepping into a bigger volunteer role – and any of you who just want more training! Come for all or portions of our training day as you wish. More details will be coming, but we’ll have 60-90 minute sessions on trauma-informed care and de-escalation; personal safety tips; fentanyl and administering life-saving opioid blockers; first aid; and crew management, including how to do a great pre-shift huddle.
We need more volunteer leads, especially shift leads. Are you ready to step up and take on additional responsibilities? We would love to hear from you if you want to discuss, and you should plan to attend on Oct. 28 if you can. We need you! Email Kim at egan.volunteers@svdp.us to RSVP or for more information. We’ll keep you posted as the agenda finalizes.
