“It’s very rare that anyone coming into our program has a driver’s license,” says Mellinda, CSS Service Navigation Manager. “Probably less than 5 percent.”

Many clients don’t have any identification documents. “For most people living on the streets and in unhoused situations, their papers are not in order,” says Dani, CSS Community Manager. “Often, they don't have their birth certificate.”

Dani was one of those. Five years ago, she lost her house and her job on the Oregon Coast, when her parents, whom she had been caring for, died. When she came to Eugene a supposed friend stole all her money and belongings she had brought with her. Around the same time, a storage unit where she had stored her most valuable things and her important documents burned, leaving her without any identification. Through CAHOOTS, she landed in a CSS Hut at the Fire Station Microsite. Eventually, she moved to the Reboot Station, began volunteering, and soon was a paid CSS Staff member. During that period of transition, she was able to get her birth certificate reissued and then acquire other essential identification documents, including a driver’s license.

Dani’s husband, Neil, also a former CSS client and staff member, got his driver’s license six years ago with help from the program. “Now,” Dani says, “he works for a property management company, has sat on the board of a nonprofit, and does landscape and maintenance work all over the county because he had CSS help him get his driver’s license."

Mellinda says some people are able to pursue employment and housing without having a driver’s license if they have other forms of official ID, like a social security card or a state-issued identification card. 

But, she says, for many, “Being able to get your license is a big part of being able to be employed, of reaching their housing goals, of reaching their life goals.”

And CSS does help them, including covering most fees. For a lot of folks it’s quite easy to get a license, she says. “It’s like here’s some paperwork or here’s a check. But for others, it’s a year-long process.”

Obstacles include fines and fees from the past that can be quite costly and complicated to deal with. “Folks, maybe, were living out of their car and they were no longer able to afford to pay for their registration,” she says.  “Then they got a fee or a fine that resulted in them getting a court date that they didn't get the notice for because they didn't have a mailing address. Then they missed their court date, and then they got a failure to appear fine. Those things can really add up to thousands and thousands of dollars in fines and fees that make it very, very challenging for people to get their license back.”

In cases where clients have had a suspended license, CSS will call the DMV to get the details of what is preventing the client from getting their license reinstated. Sometimes clients have fines in multiple jurisdictions. “I worked with a client who had fines at the Eugene Municipal, at Springfield Municipal, and the Lane County Circuit Court, ” Mellinda says. “It's a process of showing up and presenting in front of the judge and asking them for some type of accommodation.” Accommodations can include community service. Once past obligations have been cleared, clients must pay a reinstatement fee to get a license. Although CSS, in most cases, cannot pay  past fees or fines, it will cover the reinstatement fee.

In Mark’s case, his CSS Service Navigator at the time, Destinee, helped him identify some fines from the past he owed in California. But when he called the California DMV, he was told those fines had “disappeared or been forgiven.”

Just the basic fees, which CSS covers, can add up quickly. “It’s not cheap to help somebody get their license,” Mellinda says. The license fee is $64. The driving test costs $45. The written test costs $7. Reinstatement from a suspended or revoked license costs $85. If a client takes the driving tests through a private testing program (which also provides the vehicle to take the test in, something most clients don’t have) that costs up to $75. A non–driver’s license state identification, which clients can get if they can’t or choose not to get a driver’s license costs $47.

Mellinda says CSS is usually successful in helping clients get driver’s licenses. But not always. She has been working with a client recently who broke down crying when she found out how much she owed and the challenge of overcoming that. “I don’t know if it will ultimately be successful,” Mellinda says. "It’s going to depend on how determined they are to get their license reinstated.” In the meantime, CSS will help get her an ID and “plug away at those obstacles if that’s what they’re wanting and willing to do.”

A driver’s license can be essential for housing and employment but it also can be a big boost to a person’s psyche. Both Melinda and Dani cite the example of Paul, another former CSS client who's been a long-time staff member, who recently got his driver’s license.

“He’s at retirement age and hasn't driven legally in ages," Dani says. "He looked like a 16-year-old boy walking through the door with his new license, just beaming. It's a form of independence, just like when you were 16. All of a sudden you aren't reliant on everyone else and you have ownership over your own ability to go from point A to point B—and that's life altering at 16 and at 60.”

“He was so excited,” Mellinda says. “He was like a kid again.”

Mark concurs in the life-altering effect of a driver’s license. 

“It's been a real big factor in my feeling that I’ve become a productive and contributing member of society,” he says. “I've been able to get off food stamps, which I had been on for over 10 years. At first I was nervous about losing that,  but it's just neat to be able to feel as if I am a quote unquote ‘regular’ member of society. Because I go and do a job each day, four days a week. My company relies on me to show up each day, which I do, and I complete my assigned tasks and I feel like I'm an important part of the maintenance team getting its job done, which is a big part of the overall picture of CSS doing what its mission is. I can't even tell you the effect that that's had on my psyche.

“I'm smiling, ear to ear, right now because it's been maybe a year and a half since I had my driving test. I had been saving money for a long time to save up enough to buy a motorcycle, for my personal use. I was a motorcyclist in Southern California for 26 or 27 years. I just was biding my time and saving my money, and I kept my eyes out on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist for a particular style and type of bike. And then it finally appeared. And I went to the gentleman's house and purchased it with the cash in hand. That was always kind of a pipe dream of mine when I became homeless that I would like to be able to get back on a motorcycle before my days were numbered. I happen to be 61 years old. 

“The  last time I had owned a vehicle was many, many, many years ago and to know now that I can just walk out of my Hut with my helmet on and my leather jacket and be able to put my key in the ignition and go run my errands or go out on a weekend and have a nice ride to wherever is amazing. I really didn't think that that day would ever come for me when I was homeless. And the fact that I am able to do so now, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. CSS has provided me with so many different opportunities to help me to get back on my feet again that I really do want to give everything that I can possibly give to them because if it wasn't for CSS, I'm sure I would still be struggling on the streets and everything that goes along with that.”