Tag: City of Eugene Oregon

Promise Fulfilled

Posted on by Julia Havens

CPW Community Planning Workshop Team Eugene Microvillage Evaluation

The first time I had a close interaction with an unhoused individual was when I was in the 6th grade. I was attending the Environmental Middle School (EMS) in Portland Oregon, which is a magnet school that has a strong emphasis in community development and environmental awareness. One key component to graduating from EMS is volunteering your time to one service project. There was a list of projects to choose from. The project that I chose was to volunteer my time at a soup kitchen in downtown Portland. I spent 4 hours a week during my 6th grade year serving and bussing tables at the soup kitchen.

My experience at a young age feeding the unhoused in downtown Portland made me empathetic to individuals that were less fortunate than me. What really resonated with me was how much the unhoused individuals were so thankful that I was volunteering my time to help them on a regular basis. Since my experience, I have always been empathetic towards the unhoused. I told myself if I have an opportunity to give back to the Homeless community in the future, I would do so.

I feel privileged to be in collaboration with the Community Planning Workshop and the City of Eugene working on a project with the unhoused, specially, doing a program evaluation of Opportunity Village and the two rest stops that are currently sanctioned in Eugene. I decided to work on this project because I have a passion for developing communities and infrastructures for particular populations that can’t get their voices heard. This experience will increase my knowledge of the unhoused, working with like-minded students who share the same values on the unhoused, and provide objective recommendations to the City of Eugene.

Our CPW team had a meeting with stakeholders to dialogue about Opportunity Villiage and the Safe Spots that serve the unhoused in Eugene. I have learned about policies that both positively and negatively effect the unhoused population in terms of attaining self-sufficiency. Moving forward, our team will facilitate and distribute the survey and interview questions, and analyze the data.  At the end of the day, we hope to capture the perspective of other folks who work with the unhoused population. The team will then compare and contrast the data collected, which will better help the evaluation of current policies.

I am fortunate to be in a position to continue where I left off in the 6th grade with working with the unhoused population. Having this opportunity to evaluate the current state of the ordinances affecting the unhoused in Eugene is in line with my passion of community and professional development. I am thankful for the collaboration with a passionate team of fellow UO students, who share the same goals of equity and inclusion.

 

Brody Abbott CPW Community Planning Workshop Eugene Microvillage Evaluation About the Author: Brody Abbott received his Bachelors of Degree in Criminal Justice from Southern Oregon University in 2013. During his free time he enjoys playing with his dog, Rufus, playing basketball, and enjoying the great outdoors. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Brody is close to his friends and family.

Voices of Eugene’s Homeless Community

Posted on by Julia Havens

Whoville Oregon Eugene Rest Stop and Micro Village Program Evaluation CPW Community Planning Workshop

My hope after graduate school is to work in a position where I have the power to listen to and empower communities whose voices have been silenced. Before coming to the University of Oregon, I spent time in Portland working with an Environmental Justice organization. After working in social justice at the grassroots level and facing opposition from agencies in power, I decided to get a Master of Community and Regional Planning.

Now, as a part of the Community Service Center’s Community Planning Workshop (CPW), I am working on a project that will give me the chance to share the voices of Eugene’s homeless community. My project involves evaluating Eugene’s current rest stop and microvillage program, and providing the city with ideas on how to better implement the program. When this project was proposed to us in the first week of class, I immediately knew it was my top choice; I believe that sleeping in a safe place is a vital human right and the large number of people who don’t have a safe, reliable place to sleep in our communities is a tragedy. After learning briefly about the state of homelessness in Eugene last term, I was excited to choose a CPW project I’m so passionate about!

The City of Eugene estimates that anywhere from 1500-3000 people in the community lack a safe and stable place to sleep at night, with many others at risk of becoming homeless. In April of 2014, the controversial and highly publicized removal of a homeless camp (called Whoville) from a vacant site near the University of Oregon campus led to increased community dialogue about how the City of Eugene is approaching local homelessness.

In 2013, City of Eugene started a Rest Stop Pilot Program  which allows people without permanent homes to camp legally in sites managed by community organizations.  Two of these rest stops are managed by Community Supported Shelters. At a third site provided by the city, a transitional micro-housing program called Opportunity Village allows 30-40 residents to live for longer periods of time. “Microvillages”, like Opportunity Village, offer residents their own housing in a safe, stable community where they can participate in employment training and often volunteer around the village in various ways.

The city would like to develop more long-term approaches to providing shelter through rest stops or microvillages. Through multiple conversations, the University of Oregon and the City of Eugene thought about how the University could contribute to issues within its own community. It was through these conversations the University asked the Community Service Center to evaluate the rest stop, and microvillage program. Specifically, our team is tasked with determining best practices from around the country, and providing recommendations on improving local housing services for the homeless.

The project will take around six months to complete. The first steps are to develop a better understanding of Eugene’s current programs, and study rest stop and microvillage programs in other places. After completing these initial steps, we will survey village residents, local service providers and other community members to evaluate the effectiveness of the current programs. At the end, we will provide the City of Eugene with a framework for the continued operation, and potential expansion, of microvillages in Eugene.

I am delighted to be working as part of such a motivated team, with members that hail from around the country and from different academic and professional backgrounds. Stay tuned as Brody Abbott, Henry Hearley, Nick Meltzer, Jaleel Reed, and I dig deeper into the topic of housing options and begin to study ground-breaking solutions from across the nation!

Emily Brown Eugene Rest Stop and Micro Village Program Evaluation CPW Community Planning WorkshopAbout the Author: Emily Brown is a first year Master of Community and Regional Planning student originally from Walla Walla, Washington. Before moving to Eugene, she lived in Portland where she was involved in Environmental Justice activism and worked for a renewable energy company.