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CSS's Neighborhood Hygiene Station:A Concept for The Future of Meeting Basic Human Needs

Sept. 15, 2020

What does the future hold for human society? 2020 has been a year of constant change and adaptation for us all. Through all of this, though, a truth remains: human beings have basic needs to sustain life: food, water, shelter, and transportation are essential to support our personal well-being. As more people end up without shelter, how people meet these needs will also change. Society will need to adapt to a new set of environmental and economic realities.


These changes have led CSS to act to help meet the hygiene needs of people without shelter by creating a small-scale, neighborhood hygiene station called The ReBoot Station. Unsheltered people can sign up to get a shower, a nutritious meal, hygiene supplies, new clothes—and then go about living their lives 


The hygiene station is grouped with a Microsite of six Conestoga Huts occupied by people all working toward a higher quality of life for themselves. Three of the seven residents are paid, part-time employees helping with showers and meals. At this point, the ReBoot Station is open for three hours per day, three days a week and provides an average of 50 to 70 showers per week.


I know that providing showers and meals to unsheltered folks is not a new concept and our numbers are low compared to other service providers. So what makes this model project noteworthy? It’s not what it does but how it does it. The big impact comes from the value of smaller, more spread-out hygiene stations combined with Microsite shelters.

Take a tour of the Microsite.


The ReBoot Station is nestled in with neighborhood businesses and shares an alleyway with residential homes. We have received zero official complaints about the project from the nearby business owners and residents, and some have even thanked CSS for making use of the vacant lot. We attribute the lack of negative, intolerant reaction to its small-scale design. 

Here’s how it all works in a nutshell: 


Up to eight people wishing to use the shower wait under a 200-square foot canopy tent outside the hygiene station. There are eight chairs spaced roughly six feet apart. Four people are admitted into the station at a time.


After being admitted, a guest washes their hands and checks in. They can get hygiene supplies (razors, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste & brushes, etc.) or new underwear or socks to go along with getting clean.


While people wait at a tent inside the station for a shower (with four socially distanced chairs), they receive a warm nutritious meal and can go through the donated clothes. 


The shower trailer is on loan from the University Fellowship Church, while we explore the concept of installing a permanent, permitted, durable, campground-style bathroom that would also be ADA accessible. The mobile unit has soap/shampoo dispensers, a private and lockable space to dress, and two standing shower stalls with a single warm temperature setting.


The site has been toured by city officials, representatives from Trillium, CSS donors and supporters, and others. Many support the concept of small-scale, dispersed Microsites with hygiene stations as a strategy to make these basic services more accessible and the sites more compatible with a variety of neighborhoods. 


As our needs continue to grow and change, so will our strategies for working to truly stabilize our community. We need to adapt our community’s infrastructure to help us all weather the storms we must face. We hope our first hygiene station will serve as a model for what should become standard throughout urban areas. In the same way that cities build parks, libraries, and fire stations as core components of good city management, they should recognize the need for shelter and hygiene stations as fundamental responsibilities of good governance. 

This year has taught us that we need to get our heads out of the idea of returning to “business as usual” and start planning for the real challenges ahead. The sooner we make this mental adjustment the sooner we can begin creating supportive infrastructure to meet the basic needs of people in this ongoing housing crisis.

Community Court Program

04 May, 2024
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.

Volunteers Boost Energy Systems at CSS Communities

03 May, 2024
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.

UO Interior Design Creative Storage Collaboration

02 May, 2024
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.

Volunteer Spotlight: Sandy and Percy

30 Apr, 2024
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.

Eugene Parking Ban Opposition Testimony

12 Mar, 2024
It's not too late to share your thoughts on this proposed update. Send your written testimony to mayorcouncilandcitymanager@eugene-or.gov .

Incarceration and Homelessness: Breaking the Cycle

15 Jan, 2024
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.”

From Waste to Wonder - UO's Grey Water Conservation Project

14 Jan, 2024
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.

New CSS Director of Community Impact: Black Burrell

13 Jan, 2024
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:

Volunteer Spotlight: Veronica Paredes

12 Jan, 2024
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.

Bike and Build Volunteers Assist in Refurbishing Huts

13 Oct, 2023
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.
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