CSS Operations Update

July 20, 2023

Did you know that in 2021, CSS built 100 Conestoga Huts to meet the growing unhoused needs of the Lane County community post-Covid? As you can imagine, this rapid expansion was quite the growth curve for our little start-up organization! In the years since, we have seen the length of stay in our Huts shift from 10 months to upwards of 2 years with the growing lack of affordable housing and, since the pandemic, our onsite hours shift to 24/7, where previously most of our clients were offsite during a significant portion of the day. 

These factors have increased the wear and tear on the CSS community spaces and individual Huts and mandate a different look at how we deliver services to our clients. The foundation of CSS is entirely based on the idea of community, and we continue to breathe that concept into our work on a daily basis. Our Service Team brings each community together at least once a week to encourage healthy communication and troubleshoot unhealthy behaviors, as our clients navigate life with up to 18 roommates and shared spaces! They cook together, chop firewood together, and more.


For CSS Operations, 2023 will continue to be a year of renewal and renovation! With a new Director of Operations, new Facilities Manager Dustin Foskett, and fully staffed Maintenance Team, we have been focused on clearing a backlog of repairs, conducting community Hut safety inspections, and enhancing infrastructure with an eye toward livability. Beyond these essential projects, we have few fun plans in the works including . . .  


  • The expansion of our grey water filtration pilot program, presently at our Skinner site, to other CSS communities courtesy of a grant from the Oregon Country Fair. This enhancement will eliminate the need to haul grey water out of our off-grid communities each week, as well as provide relatively clean water for client gardens and green spaces.
  • Leveraging City of Eugene infrastructure funding to create more accessible paths and entryways in our communities as well as decrease the ponding that happens during heavy rains on the barrowed wetlands that host many CSS communities. 
  • Enhancing our solar systems and/or connecting communities to EWEB to increase the ease of living in our mostly off-grid communities. 
  • Revamping our shower and laundry services to better serve our existing clients with an investment in onsite washers and dryers as well as more accessible shower hours.
  • Opportunities for clients to prepare for potential CSS employment through  volunteer roles, serving alongside the Maintenance Team on routine tasks, as well as special projects.

This year is the time to shore up the infrastructure quickly assembled in 2021 and plan for sustainability in this next season. We have a wonderful foundation, willing hands ready to build, and heart-warming public support. Thank you for being a part of the Team that makes shelter possible for hundreds each year at CSS!



Tabitha Eck
Director of Operations
Community Supported Shelters 

News & Events

To stay connected to CSS, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter. If you are a member of the media who is seeking info, contact community@cssoregon.org.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Directors' Letter: 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

CSS is Now Operating the Nightingale Safe Spot

July 23, 2025
In partnership with the Nightingale Board of Directors and the City of Eugene, CSS is ensuring the Nightingale Safe Spot continues to operate in South Eugene. In the month of July, CSS officially began to operate the Nightingale Safe Spot Community in South Eugene. As the organization moves its home to our new building

Donor Spotlight: Eugene REALTORS® YPN

July 22, 2025
The Eugene REALTORS® Young Professionals Network had their yearly ‘Sip of Summer’ event to raise money for Community Supported Shelters. A good time was had by all with games, a raffle, BBQ, and great networking at Alton Baker Park. This was their 5th fundraiser for CSS, and they raised $3,300 this year to Adopt-a-Hut.

Volunteer Spotlight: UO Duck Corps

July 21, 2025
This summer, we've been collaborating with UO Duck Corps, who have been giving Hut exteriors some good scrubbing. Dustin (the staff member taking the selfie), says, "It's so encouraging to see a younger generation work against stereotypes about the unhoused and have such an interest in helping their community."
Show More