Hut Residents: Phil Bragg

Oct. 30, 2014 - Written by: Guy Maynard


“The Hut has just been a huge launching pad for me.”


Phil Bregg, 33, lives in one of three Huts in the parking lot of the Westside Apostolic Church, next to Community Supported Shelters’ Tine Hive workshop. His Hut was the third one built and he’s been there since February. With a permanent job and a newfound sense of confidence, he will be married in mid-August and moving out of the Hut to live with his wife.


I was renting a room where I thought I could save money. I needed to start saving money to fight for my kids in a custody battle. But it turns out they were charging me more than I thought, and I just couldn’t afford it. I was working just here and there, scrapping metal, returning pop cans, doing some landscaping on a piece-by-piece basis. It was rough.


I had attended the Westside Apostolic Church for about two years, so I knew they let people stay in their parking lot. The people there made me feel comfortable enough to ask for permission to stay in the parking lot. So in October of last year, I ended up out there, living in the back of my car, a little two-door hatchback Subaru, trying to save up money.

The church parking lot is right next to the Tine Hive, where the Huts are built. Neighbors talk, and I volunteered and said I was willing to do anything. I helped put up the first two Huts and Erik [de Buhr, CSS executive director] petitioned the Opportunity Village on my behalf to see if he could build a Hut for me and got permission from the pastor, so I got the first Hut in that parking lot last February.

I went from my car into the Hut, so I was just ecstatic, still am. It’s really a livable accommodation. It gave me a place where I felt like I belonged. It gave me an established home, some place that I could come back to.


When you have a place you can call your own, you can store things there, you can make yourself comfortable and presentable. You can live at a higher standard, and once I started living at that higher standard it gave me confidence, and that confidence made it to where I was able to go out and start looking for better jobs. I got placed at a couple of remodels at Jo-Ann Fabric and just recently I got a permanent job with C&L Automotive.


The Hut has just been a huge launching pad for me, to get my feet under me and just go.

I’m going to be married next month. Part of the reason that I’m still staying in the Hut is that my faith doesn’t let me live with my fiancé before marriage, but when August 17 comes up, I’m going to be living with her.

It has all worked together really well for me and it was because there were people out there who were willing to open their hearts and open their minds to “You know what, this is a good guy, he’s just down on his luck.”

I am a success story at this point in my life and I know that what made me a success was the ability to have a place to use and improve while I needed it. Now that I don’t need it anymore, I hope it helps somebody else in the same way.


I’m going to leave whatever improvements I’ve made. I put a peep hole on the door. I painted the outside of the front. I plugged a few of the holes. I put in a shelf. I still need to paint the trim but I’m going to do that before I leave. I’m leaving behind the bed frame, a food pantry, a little table, and a hang-up mirror.


I just hope that somebody uses it for the same purpose—as a place to launch from, not just a place to settle but as a place to get their feet under them and really go, “Hey, I can start here but look at the last guy who was here, look what he did,” and move forward. Maybe it will be the blessed Hut.


Photos by: Kate Harnedy http://katehphoto.com

News & Events

To stay connected and learn about upcoming events, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter.


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


Subscribe to Newsletter
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

1

2

3

I didn't want to participate in the 5K. Too early on a Saturday morning, and besides, I don't love c
April 30, 2025
I didn't want to participate in the 5K. Too early on a Saturday morning, and besides, I don't love crowds. Then I learned that CSS wasn't only buying tickets for staff to participate, but we were also buying up to 10 tickets for our clients to join the first-ever Team CSS for the 5K run at the Eugene Marathon.
April 15, 2025
In a September 2023 interview, Sabrina, who had been in a CSS Hut for about two years, said, “It's been well over 10 years since I've had a job, because my drug habit has caused me to be homeless.”
April 14, 2025
Spring is a season of renewal—and at Community Supported Shelters, it’s arriving alongside some significant and hopeful changes. I’m writing today to share updates about our growth as an organization, exciting developments in local policy, and a special event we hope you'll join us for.
April 13, 2025
If you have the opportunity to meet Harley and discuss her job at CSS as a Community Facilitator, you will be impressed. She is confident, thoughtful, and compassionate about the work she does to improve the lives of her clients and help move them on a path to sustainability. But you have the feeling there is something else. And when you learn about her story you understand there is more. Way more.
April 12, 2025
Meet Crystal, one of our newest CSS volunteers. Crystal has quickly become a welcoming presence at our Access Center, generously donating her time once a week to support staff and clients with a smile.
April 11, 2025
Little by little for ten months, St. Mary's Episcopal Church Congregation collected cans and bottles. And now, those small BottleDrop deposits have provided a big return: shelter for the unhoused. Recently, St. Mary's donated $3,000 to CSS and adopted their FOURTH Conestoga Hut! St. Mary’s has been a long-time supporter of CSS. They hosted our first ever Annual Celebration back in 2014. We’re beyond grateful for their decade of support!
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
January 21, 2025
A CSS Yurt on a rainy cold December afternoon in West Eugene may not be a place you would expect to find two Eugene area bank branch managers enrolling new depositors. Even more remarkable is the effort and journey that brought them there. The story begins earlier this year when Downtown Eugene KeyBank Branch Manager Michelle Khanthanhot reached out to Blake Burrell, CSS Director of Community Impact. What ensued is a focused grassroots effort by Michelle and another KeyBank Eugene Branch Manager Jose Contreras to educate the CSS community about financial health and planning. “For KeyBank it is important that we are involved in our community,” says Michelle. “Blake and I connected and it has just kind of evolved in the last 6 months.”
January 20, 2025
Community Supported Shelters is thrilled to share news of the incredible support we received from our community partners in 2024. These grants have allowed us to expand our programs, enhance our services, and make a meaningful difference for the individuals we serve. Here are the highlights:
January 14, 2025
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.
Show More