Volunteer Spotlight: Crystal, Supporting Access

By Jennifer Yeh

Meet Crystal, one of our newest CSS volunteers. Crystal has quickly become a welcoming presence at our Access Center, generously donating her time once a week to support staff and clients with a smile. 


Crystal not only brings a positive attitude but also the lived experience of being homeless herself on and off the streets of Eugene for eight years. “A lot of resources helped, and I remember CSS was very warm and welcoming and didn’t make me feel like I was unwelcome or a hassle. That is super important when you are out there and have lost hope.” 


Now Crystal is housed and stable, supporting others on their journey at our Access Center. “I love how the Access Center has been opened up to people on the waitlist. It is such a beautiful thing. It is life-changing to get a shower.” She enjoys seeing people happy and revived after getting a shower and some clean clothes. It reminds her how the small things are important. 


Crystal recently completed peer support specialist training and loved it! She now has a new goal and is working toward becoming a Peer Support Specialist working with the unhoused while balancing a new grandchild, work, and volunteering. 

You Gotta Nourish to Flourish

All donations to the new Community Supported Shelters Nourish Fund will be directed toward nourishing the lives of unhoused individuals through open art studio classes, music lessons, peer-led support groups, employment prep, and more. 

Donate to Nourish Fund

News & Events

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Nonprofit that aids homeless is raising money for building remodel

December 9, 2025
Workers at Community Supported Shelters make do in a cramped space where they share desks and have no space for private meetings with the unsheltered people they serve. The Eugene nonprofit has grown rapidly in recent years, expanding its roster of huts where people can live off the streets. Today there are more than

Could Oregon Trail wagons provide an unlikely solution to the housing crisis?: Season of Sharing 2025

November 19, 2025
Zechariah Boesman was homeless for most of his life. He spent his childhood touring practically “every homeless shelter across America” and landed as an adult in Oregon, where he lived on the streets until a workplace injury convinced him to apply for a tiny home with Community Supported Shelters.

Community Supported Shelters takes on 20 more Conestoga Huts, will expand food efforts

November 16, 2025
Blake Burrell: "For anyone that's ever moved in with roommates, moving 20 people in at one time can be really challenging. So we are taking that incremental approach and are looking somewhere by probably about  July or August, having 20 folks on that property."

Hope in a Difficult Time

October 31, 2025
As we move deeper into fall and prepare for the cold months ahead, we want to share an update on our work and a reflection on what this season means for our community. Recent policy changes and funding reductions across Oregon are already having consequences for people experiencing homelessness. New SNAP rules are e

Turning Art Into Income

October 30, 2025
Since the inception of the CSS workforce development program in 2024, it has become clear that not everyone is interested or able to work in a traditional workplace. It can be quite the challenge to locate jobs that are part time, supportive, accessible to folks with disabilities or criminal history, to name but a few

Warming Hearts with Welcome Totes

October 29, 2025
When someone moves, they may receive housewarming gifts to celebrate their new beginning, which can help a new house or apartment start to feel like a real home. Each person who moves into a Conestoga Hut receives something akin to a "Hut-warming" gift. “A welcome tote is given to new clients when they move into a Hu

Class aims to help unhoused people learn to make and sell their own art

October 27, 2025
Linda Southwood’s handmade jewelry, she said, is a part of her. Making her beaded bracelets and necklaces from reclaimed wood has been a relaxing constant for Southwood, 52, especially after her home burned down three years ago and she struggled to find housing. She’s a graduate of a new arts entrepreneurship progra

The Future: A New Building For CSS!

July 26, 2025
Because of your support, we’re growing into something bigger—two new spaces designed to better serve our unhoused neighbors. Community Supported Shelters is in the middle of an exciting transformation. After over a decade at our Grant Street location, we’ve purchased a new building that will allow us to bring our in

The Present: CSS to Make a Big Move

July 25, 2025
“Everyone will have desks,” declares Blake Burrell, CSS Director of Community Impact, anticipating the move of most of the CSS staff and programs from 1160 Grant Street to 2870 West 10th Place, a former Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles facility. The move will take place between now and the end of 2025.

The Past: A History of Heart at 1160 Grant

July 24, 2025
Erik de Buhr fell in love with the building at 1160 Grant long before there was a Community Supported Shelters. He was involved with a group that built things out of salvaged materials (Resurrected Refuse Action Team), including huts that would turn out to be precursors to the CSS Conestoga Huts. “I’d been eyeballing t
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