Passion. Time. Talent. Our Directors support CSS by providing leadership, connecting with services for those in need, sharing expertise, fundraising, and being ambassadors and advocates.
CSS Directors
Tabitha Eck
Director of Operations
Tabitha Eck, a native of Lane County, has spent her professional career exploring various fields, from business ownership to nonprofit management. With a passion for strategic planning, coaching and leadership, and effective communication and relationship-building, Tabitha has become a respected figure in the local operational landscape. Having honed her skills over the years, Tabitha brings a wealth of experience to her role as the Director of Operations at Community Supported Shelters. Her unwavering commitment to bringing people together around common goals has been instrumental in fostering collaboration and driving success in her previous positions. Tabitha's dedication to making a difference in her community shines through her work with organizations such as the Eugene Mission and St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County. During her tenure, she played a vital role in serving the unhoused population in Eugene, leveraging her operations and communications expertise to create impactful programs and initiatives.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Tabitha finds joy in exploring the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest. She embraces family time and cherishes moments spent with loved ones. Tabitha's creativity extends beyond her professional life, as she takes pleasure in creating beautiful things that add a touch of beauty to the world.
Heather Quaas-Annsa (she/her)
Director of Philanthropy
In her role as Director of Philanthropy, Heather is responsible for mid-level and major gift fundraising, donor relations, planned giving, public relations, marketing, and advocacy. She leads the Development staff, supports the Development Committee, and assists with donor stewardship and event planning. Heather is also the liaison for the CSS Board of Directors.
In 2014, Heather received a Master’s degree in Business Administration focusing on project management while working full-time and raising her three children. This degree's coursework allowed her to expand her knowledge regarding public relations and communications, strategic and tactical planning, and organizational management. Heather was recognized in 2017 as a “20 under 40 Rising Business Star'' for her commitment to career excellence and for making the Eugene-Springfield area a better place for all residents. In 2019, Heather became a Certified Fund Raising Executive- one of only 73 in Oregon!
Blake Burrell
Director of Community Impact
Blake Burrell is a nonprofit administrator and public official residing in the City of Eugene. Blake’s professional work in nonprofit administration has centered on developing and implementing homeless and emergency service programs, teaching tenant education and advocacy seminars, and investing in professional development opportunities for staff, student interns, volunteers, and beneficiaries entering the human service field.
Blake is active in the local community and has contributed to public and private sector efforts related to disaster preparedness, unhoused response, housing, human rights, music and arts promotion with local municipalities and community-based organizations. Blake brings his passion for direct service and public administration to help Community Supported Shelters create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming community for guests accessing shelter within our communities. He is dedicated to creating an effective community-based approach to helping guests stabilize and actuate on goals related to personal well-being, mental healthcare, healthcare, restorative justice, employment, and housing.
Blake feels most alive when he is helping people and investing in making a more just and equitable community for us all to call home.
Board of Directors
Devin Jenkins, President
Laurel Hill Center
Devin Jenkins is President of the CSS board and a member since 2020. He has a long history of involvement in nonprofits and is currently Director of Facilities and Housing Services at Laurel Hill Center. He shares his inspiration for his work at CSS: “I was inspired to join the board because of CSS’s creativity and willingness to think outside the box to help solve the lack of shelter and housing options in the community. Even if the community had enough traditional shelter beds for those that need them, the traditional settings don’t work for everyone. CSS’s communities give people safety and security, while still allowing for independence and authority over one’s future. I find my work on the board of directors meaningful because I am able to leverage my decades of experience running nonprofits to help CSS stay viable and mission-focused as we change and grow. I am looking forward to what the future holds for CSS as the local shelter and housing conditions change in Lane County. I believe that CSS’s dynamic culture and dedicated and innovative staff will keep the organization positioned to continue helping the community and those that face housing crisis in new and unique ways.”
Harvey Blustain, Secretary
Management Consultation
Harvey Blustain began his professional life as an anthropologist, with extended fieldwork in Nepal and Jamaica. After leaving academia and moving to Boston in 1984, he held various consulting and management positions in the business world. For the last 17 years of his career, he was a higher education consultant, advising university and college executives on planning, administration, and organizational issues; for 13 of those years, he ran his own consulting firm. In 2012, Harvey and Malinda (an archaeologist and museum director) retired and moved to the same village in rural Nepal where Harvey had done fieldwork in the 1970s. They built a house and for two years volunteered as English and computer teachers in the local school. While there, they also decided that 30 years in Boston was enough. Returning to the U.S. in 2014, they moved to Eugene, where Malinda has extended family. Since arriving in Eugene, Harvey has engaged in a number of volunteer activities to benefit the community.
Ken Beeson, Treasurer
Retired EWEB
Ken Beeson is a lifelong member of the Eugene community and is retired from EWEB after 30 years in electric utility operations and management. Ken shares that he is “dedicated to working for the public good.” In addition, he has been active for several years in volunteer civic work with Lane County and the City of Eugene, including the Human Services Commission, the Emergency Food and Shelter Board, and the Eugene Planning Commission. Ken says his motivation for becoming involved at CSS: “I want to bring my public service experience and commitment to support CSS and low-barrier transition housing because I believe everyone deserves a safe and stable place to live.” Ken was recently appointed as Treasurer of the CSS Board.
Donna Jackson
Former CSS Client
Donna Jackson was the volunteer coordinator at the Roosevelt Camp, mentored many of the members who came into and successfully left that community, provided support at the CSS headquarters office, and helped establish the Shields House as a “next step” in the transition from the streets to stable housing. She is now living independently and paying rent at the CSS-owned Shields House. She believes that her experience of being unhoused and as a client of CSS brings an important perspective to the board: “I think it makes a big difference. I think it’s a lot more valuable than someone who maybe just knew a little bit about CSS until they got on the board but never had experienced homelessness or knew anything about the trials that people go through sometimes every minute when they are homeless.”
Sarah Koski
Narrative Strategist
Board member Sarah Koski shares her story. “In 2020, I left creative consulting and a nonprofit leadership position to work for one of Oregon’s largest, lowest barrier shelters in state history. As case manager for St Vincent de Paul’s 410 Safe Sleep Program, I saw firsthand how individuals transitioning out of homelessness found great success in stabilization through our shelter and then took the next step in joining the CSS program with their own personal Conestoga Hut. It was an amazing positive step in the right direction and fueled my interest in supporting the Community Supported Shelters’ mission and vision for a more vibrant, healthy future for our town’s unhoused population.”
Support Us
Your support provides shelter and hope for a better tomorrow. No amount is too small to give. $20 can make a real difference in the lives of unhoused individuals—it can fund an Outreach Kit, which provides someone in need with water, snacks, and hygiene supplies.