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Devin Jenkins Brings a Heritage of Empathy and Compassion to CSS Board

March 25, 2022


Many CSS volunteers work behind the scenes to help keep this community-based nonprofit moving forward. Serving as a CSS board member is one way to help bring constructive oversight and vision to the organization.


Devin Jenkins has served two years on the CSS board and is currently the board president. He brings a broad understanding of what is needed to maintain strong, community-based opportunities for people facing challenges that come with living without a place to call home.


The CSS board supports the three-person administrative directors team to help guide the organization towards its short- and long-term goals.


“I have a real passion for a community-based model helping people, and CSS does this in a pretty amazing way,” Devin says. “This organization is a model for building collaboration and using resources in a cost-effective way.


“We’re not heavy with administrative expenses. That allows us to stretch our funding to make the most of everything that comes to CSS. Most funding comes from our donor base, and lately the City has stepped up to support the recent expansion of Huts and Safe Spots in 2021.

“We’re very grateful for that support from both private and public contributions.”


Devin brings a unique perspective to the CSS board from his work at Laurel Hill Center, where he is director of facilities and housing programs..

Laurel Hill serves people with social, emotional, and cognitive challenges. One of its programs provides low-income housing for eligible people. The wait list to move into a Laurel Hill apartment or living unit is very lengthy. He understands very well the uphill challenges many people face in securing safe housing.


Devin was recruited to the CSS board by board members whom he had previously worked with through other nonprofits.


“Devin graciously accepted the mantle as board president this past year,” says CSS Grants and Contracts Coordinator Tod Schneider. “He has been an invaluable asset to CSS. He’s been very steady at the helm while we navigated some rough spots, including ongoing growing pains from our massive expansion.


“He also helped facilitate some challenging Covid-19 conversations about how best to keep folks safe.”

Devin graduated from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, in 2001 with a degree in biology, but felt drawn to the Northwest to work with kids, especially in outdoor settings.


He first moved to Oregon in 2001 to become program coordinator with Northwest Youth Corp. He’s also worked as an outdoor youth coordinator in Bend and in a variety of jobs with Looking Glass Community Services in Eugene.


So, how did it happen that someone with a science background became interested in helping kids and adults lead more stable lives?


“It was actually my Dad who’s been my inspiration for doing this work,” Devin says.


Devin’s Dad worked as a policeman and managed security with the housing authority in Syracuse. He was passionate about helping those struggling with poverty and housing insecurity, and sometimes took Devin to housing projects where he worked, which opened Devin’s eyes to the many challenges people face when life struggles become overwhelming.


“What I learned more than anything in those visits was empathy and compassion for people,” he says.

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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