Dustin recalls that one of the Bike and Build team leaders had a friend working for a local nonprofit supporting affordable housing who put them in touch with CSS. Dustin along with long time Hut Crew volunteers Frank Harper and Harold Leeson welcomed the riders to assist with a challenging project. “They helped us tear down six Huts, wash the PVC roofing material, load up a trailer, and take them to our shop to be refurbished. They were a tremendous help,” says Dustin, “so it was a very positive day.”
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Bike and Build Volunteers Assist in Refurbishing Huts
Oct. 12, 2023 - By Keith Dickey
Volunteers from Bike and Build in Eugene on August 12, 2023
There are volunteers who drive across town and show up weekly. There are volunteers who travel an hour or two to assist from time to time. And then there are volunteers who bicycle over 4,000 miles, across 10 states and 4 time zones to lend a helping hand. And on August 12 that’s exactly the crew that arrived to assist Facilities Manager Dustin Foskett and his team dismantle, clean, and refurbish six CSS Huts.
Bike and Build organization was established as a nonprofit in 2003. Its website summarizes its mission: “Bike and Build engages young adults in service-oriented cycling trips to raise awareness for the affordable housing cause. We advocate for the need for affordable housing in thousands of communities across the country.” As teams bike from town to town, they volunteer for service projects and give presentations about issues surrounding the lack of affordable housing. Since 2003 Bike and Build estimates that over 3,800 participants have biked over 11 million miles and donated over 255,000 volunteer community service hours to local organizations throughout the country.
On May 29, a team of about 25 riders dipped the back tires of their bikes in the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and embarked on their journey that would end in Florence, Oregon, on August 14. Riding an average of 60–80 miles per day and stopping along the way to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity builds and other projects, the group eventually arrived in Eugene on August 12.
Frank was impressed with the enthusiasm of the group. “They were amazing!” he recalls. “They tore out six Huts.” According to Frank, the team agreed that, of all the volunteer projects they worked on across the country, their day with CSS was “the best!” “Everybody had something to do and they really helped us.” Frank learned that the group was mostly college-aged participants from across the U.S. but also included riders from as far away as the United Kingdom and Brazil. “It was really a good experience for them,” says Frank.
Harold also enjoyed working with and interacting with the Bike and Build crew. “It was good for the kids. We just sort of told them what to do and they went to it,” Harold recalls. “Frank and I got them together and said ‘these are the things we need to do.’” This included removing the roofs, panels, wall units and floors. “We got all that done in the heat by 1:30. If we would have had a normal crew it would have taken twice as long.”
The following day the riders finished their cross-country journey at the Pacific Ocean in Florence. Frank, an avid cyclist who has biked across the U.S. twice himself, was on hand with the group for the final leg. Family members of the Bike and Build riders traveled to Oregon—including the mother of the U.K. rider—to join in the celebration. “It was really neat to see them once they finished the trip, ” Frank says.
Sadly, this volunteer experience with CSS may have been the last one for the Bike and Build project. According to its website (bikeandbuild.org), the organization is sunsetting and will no longer offer this opportunity for young adults. As bittersweet as that is, the CSS team is appreciative of the opportunity to work with this group of amazing young adults and will remember their assistance for years to come.
Community Supported Shelters’ Roosevelt Safe Spot Community has been transformed into a shelter community aligned with the City of Eugene Community Court program. Beginning in January, people charged with minor misdemeanor offenses who have opted into the Community Court system (rather than Municipal Court) can opt into the CSS shelter program and move into one of 16 available Huts at Roosevelt.
During the ice storm that brought Eugene to a standstill in January, all the batteries that stored the energy from the solar panels at CSS’s Lot 9 Community went dead, meaning no lights and no way to charge cell phones. Dave Reuter knew that because of a monitoring system he had set up to keep track of the status of the solar energy systems at eight CSS communities. Dave, a volunteer who has led an effort to upgrade and standardize the CSS power systems, and his wife Janel Erickson, who has worked with him on this project, are intrepid outdoors people. While most of us struggled to get out of our front doors, Dave and Janel loaded a couple of fresh batteries on their Flexible Flyer sled and attached Yaktrak spikes to their shoes and a rope to the sled. With Dave in front and Janel in the rear, they guided the sled the five miles from their Friendly neighborhood home to Lot 9, near Autzen Stadium.
A sixty square foot area. Six feet by 10 feet of space covered by an unconventional Conestoga shaped canvas. This is the simple description of the Hut basic to all CSS communities. How can a safe, comfortable, and efficient habitat be created within this framework using common and inexpensive materials? This was the question posed by Assistant Professor Solmaz Mohammadzadeh Kive to her Architecture 484 class this winter term at the University of Oregon.
For the past several months, a couple of long-time donors to Community Supported Shelters have joined us for two hours a week at our main office to do whatever needs doing.
While this may sound like a modest amount of time, Sandy and Percy’s consistent, constructive, and upbeat engagement demonstrates a truth that is often overlooked: big issues can be meaningfully addressed in small increments of time.
It's not too late to share your thoughts on this proposed update. Send your written testimony to mayorcouncilandcitymanager@eugene-or.gov .
Formerly incarcerated people are almost ten times more likely to be homeless than the general population, according to a study from the Prison Policy Initiative.
Jack spent 27 years in prison, from the age of 33 to 60. “It is a long time. It's an entire lifetime,” he says. At first, he thought he might never get out and continued what he calls “bad behavior.” But he saw others who participated in educational programs and were successful in getting their sentences reduced. He realized if he started “acting right,” he might get out. He especially credits a program called “Nonviolent Communication” with helping him. He started using what he learned and realized that “the person we communicate worst with is ourselves.”
Lima, Peru, and Eugene, Oregon, are worlds apart in many ways. But spend some time with Kory Russel, an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon, and you will learn there are communities in both places with challenges of access to sustainable and efficient water use.
Kory has a photo in his office depicting a highly condensed neighborhood in Lima, a city where he and some of his students work on sustainable water projects.
Did you know CSS has a shared leadership model, with three directors? This November, Blake Burrell joined CSS as our new Director of Community Impact. His role supports all of our direct service staff, managing internal relationship-building, culture creation, program operation, mentoring, and conflict resolution. Read on for his introduction:
Veronica Paredes has been helping sew the weatherproof porch coverings ("scrims") for the Huts, recently working 26 hours to complete 34 scrims for us before the holidays.
In some ways, CSS is going back to its roots, including the re-engagement of clients as volunteers and the focus on hiring individuals from our Safe Spot Communities. In other ways, we’re continuing to branch out—engaging with the broader community in new and unique ways, partnering with outside organizations, and looking for chances to expand our reach outside of Lane County. We encourage you to follow us on social media as we frequently highlight our activities and outreach efforts there.