In December 2008, Thomas Egan, a houseless veteran, was found frozen to death at the northern end of Blair Boulevard. The Eugene community was outraged and wanted to take measures to save the lives of people like Egan. They pushed for general services for houseless people, with one in particular in Egan’s honor.
The Egan Warming Center is a collective of pop-up centers for houseless people funded by the Saint Vincent de Paul organization that opens only on nights projected to be below 30 degrees. Egan has multiple locations — such as Trinity United Methodist and First Christian Church — open on any active night to increase outreach to those in need. Locations are posted on their Facebook page once the opening of shelters has been decided. Their fundamental goal is to be there “when it could be so dangerous that you could freeze to death,” Tim Black, SVdP’s’s winter strategies and emergency response coordinator, said.
During the 2021-2022 winter season Egan was open for a total of 13 days. As of Feb. 6, Egan centers have already been open for 21 days this season. Due to the policy of opening on nights only below 30 degrees, Egan cannot provide care on many cold nights. In Jan 2023, eight nights were in the 31 to 35 degrees range.
“The stress of it can be every night, even the nights we aren’t open,” Black said. “Those may be the most stressful because we know our community really needs a shelter, but we can’t do that with volunteers — it would take a staff.”
Egan is heavily reliant on volunteers to come out and help, which isn’t sustainable for everyday care. There are other shelters — like Eugene Mission — that prioritize long-term care, but Egan’s priority is keeping people alive in emergency situations.
“We are there to keep them alive that night so they can get up the next morning and be a member of our community, that’s it,” Black said.
Egan Warming Center is also Eugene’s only “low-barrier” shelter facility. This means any adult in need of help is accepted regardless of factors like inebriation, criminal records, etc. Because Egan is emergency-oriented, being a low-barrier is one of its most important characteristics.
Egan staff work on a 24-hour notice, apart from the first night of the season they open which requires a 48-hour notice. This means the team makes the call to open at least 24 hours before a cold night is projected. After openings are announced, the issue then becomes for guests and volunteers to beat potential storms, like the one in late last December.
“The extreme ice sort of happened overnight, so our volunteers that maybe showed up at 10 p.m. or even midnight couldn’t get home in the morning,” Black said, “and then our volunteers who were coming to relieve them in the morning couldn’t get there.”
Visitors in the shelters then had nowhere to go the morning after the storm. “If it had been more than a night, I don’t know what would’ve happened,” Black said.
Black said helping others doesn’t have to be as time-consuming as volunteering. Anything can help if you have the right intentions –– even smiling or saying good morning to someone on the street.
“Treat them like anybody else,” Black said. “It’s okay to feel uncomfortable, but just trying to be a little less judgmental every day could make a huge difference.”
Other Eugene Services:
CAHOOTS – 24-hour crisis assistance(541) 682-5111
Eugene Mission – long-term restoration programs
Shelter Care – individual and family housing services
Hosea Youth Services Project – youth services
Tim Black, the Winter Strategies Coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, stands outside First United Methodist, Egan Youth Site. The site pictured is located on A St. in Springfield Ore. Egan Warming Centers serve as night shelters for houseless individuals; the centers are only open on nights projected to be below 30 F. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
