Ways to Give

1160 Grant Street Eugene, OR 97402

Public Office Hours:

Tue-Fri, 1-4 p.m.

541-683-0836

community@cssoregon.org

Helping Navigate Toward a Better Place:

Service Navigator Kai Batalona

March 30, 2021

When people move into one of the eight CSS Safe Spot camps, they are also moving into a CSS culture with a community of support staff whose goal is to help them create a better future.

Setting life-improvement goals and identifying steps to meet them is an important part of the social support program.

Kai Batalona is one of three “service navigators,” who work with residents to help them identify options for moving forward in their lives. He took the position in January and is becoming well acquainted with the variety of opportunities for assistance in Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County. The other service navigators are Marie Laura Roehrich and Suzi Wilkins.

“When I first meet with someone, the first thing I tell them is I want them to move on to a better situation,” Kai says. “This program is basically a short-term opportunity to help them get back on their feet, and I want them to make the best of it.”

A service navigator is similar to a case manager. The job involves meeting with residents, helping them to identify personal strengths to overcome challenges in their lives and to seek out opportunities for housing and whatever else would help them move forward and become successful.

Kai shares information with residents about local resources from a spreadsheet of agency names and contacts. The list is growing and includes local housing referrals, addiction treatment programs, mental health counselling, and more.

Hawaii is Kai’s native home. He moved to Portland in 2013 and to Eugene last year. He started with CSS as a resident at the Vet’s Safe Spot camp. We recognized his strong skill set and friendly ‘laid back’ attitude towards everyone and offered him a paid position with the CSS Service Team. He then moved to the Reboot Station on W. 11th, where several other CSS service staff members live & now he has just moved into his own apartment.

“I’m very thankful to CSS for everything they’ve done for me,” he said. “I’m so blessed to be here.”

Kai comes to CSS with a wealth of experiences and background in working with people experiencing homelessness. Having served 16 years in the Hawaii Army National Guard, he has particular expertise in working with veterans. He understands the ins and outs of working with the Veterans Administration and looks for ways to help veterans receive any and all benefits to which they’re entitled, including GI benefits.

While living in Portland, Kai worked at Do Good Multnomah, a great organization that helps veterans and veteran households with low-barrier, year-round emergency shelter, transitional housing, and outreach. He also worked in student financial aid for over 25 years, including stints at the University of Hawaii and Portland State.

“I really love this organization and working at CSS,” he says. “And I’m very happy to be a part of this great team.”

“Kai really brings a lot of life and work experiences to our organization,” says CSS Operations Director Erik de Buhr. “We’re really happy to have him as a member of our growing social service support staff.”

News & Events

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If you are a member of the media who is seeking information or would like to request an interview, contact community@cssoregon.org.

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A Driver’s License Can Alter Lives

January 22, 2025

Soon after Mark moved into the Skinner Safe Spot Community in 2022 he got a CSS staff job on the maintenance crew. He worked 10–12 hours a week, and his primary responsibility was cleaning up Huts when clients moved out, preparing them for the next occupants. He didn’t have a driver’s license. He had one “many years ago” in California before he became homeless, but then he didn’t have a vehicle and he let his license lapse. He had never had a license in Oregon, where he moved in 2014. So for the maintenance job, he says, “I would commute by way of my bicycle. I carried all the cleaning products and brooms and mops and whatever I needed on my bicycle.” Things went well, and when the maintenance crew was reorganized about six months later, he was offered a new position, at 30 hours a week, in which he would be the primary maintenance person for three communities. It required he drive a CSS vehicle, so the offer was contingent on him having a driver’s license. “My supervisor at the time told me that CSS

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Family Reunites and Forges a New Beginning

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Robert hadn’t seen his brother Dan in 17 years. “I’ve been looking for him. I hadn’t had any luck and, honestly, I didn’t think he was still around.” But when Robert moved from one CSS community to the Micro-Mission Community in mid-September, he saw a face he knew. “Oh my God, it’s my long lost brother,” he said. And they gave each other a big bear hug. Dan, 56, has been in CSS Safe Spots for two years and Robert, 59, about a year. Eugene natives, they have both dealt with many difficult challenges. But, thanks to CSS, they have been reunited in a safe place and will help each other build more stable lives. “It was meant to be,” Dan says.

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Access Center Expands Services

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The last time Shaggy (given name Steve) got a haircut was right before he moved into the CSS Lot 9 Community about two years ago. His hair was long and he’d been sleeping under the Harlow Street Bridge between Eugene and Springfield and he wanted to make sure he didn’t bring any lice or other parasites into the community. He shaved it all off.

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Empowering Voices: Homeless Not Voteless

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In partnership with The League of Women Voters of Lane County (LWVLC), CSS is making significant strides in expanding voter registration outreach to unhoused individuals in our community. Historically, unhoused individuals have faced numerous barriers to voter registration and participation including lack of a permanent address, identification issues, lack of information on candidates and issues, and limited access to information about the voting process.

Art Partnership Celebrates Community

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On Friday, August 2, 2024, art created by CSS community members and staff will be featured on Eugene’s First Friday Art Walk in an exhibition titled “Community is Key” at the Oregon Supported Living Programs Arts and Culture Center (110 East 11th Avenue, Eugene). The exhibition, which opened on the First Friday Art Walk on July 5, is the culmination of a partnership between CSS and OSLP that began almost magically on a rainy day last Fall.

Director's Letter: Shared Leadership

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We are delighted to bring you the Summer edition of our shelter program's newsletter. A special welcome to our new friends from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in D.C. For those receiving our newsletter for the first time, our mission is to support the unhoused in rebuilding their lives through intentional community. We seek to provide not only a safe haven for those experiencing homelessness but also a nurturing community that fosters growth, dignity, and hope.