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Mona Bronson - Client Services Coordinator

June 13, 2018

The vision and commitment to create a community-based non-profit providing stable shelter options for people experiencing homelessness started with Kristin Fay and Erik de Buhr. But the growing group of dedicated staff members and several dozen volunteers help keep the wheels of the organization turning every day of the year.


A key member of the staff, which now numbers eight including the de Buhrs, is Mona Bronson the CSS client services coordinator.

Mona trains new volunteers at the front desk (which is the first interface applicants encounter when they come to the CSS office), compiles and organizes data for grant-writing and record keeping, assists with camp policies and program planning, and keeps the paperwork organized for tracking client progress during their stay in a Safe Spot community.


“Mona is amazing,” says CSS Co-Executive Director Kristin Fay de Buhr. “She is so fully committed in her heart and soul to the work of Community Supported Shelters. Mona is a wizard at keeping track of all the client program details, so many details, and she keeps everything very organized”.


Mona started as a front-desk volunteer in December 2015, helping new clients get on the waiting list for entry into a Safe Spot and sharing information with them about other useful community programs. As the mission of CSS expanded, Mona was asked to join the office staff, starting at 18 hours a week in 2016. She now works approximately 32 hours a week, and the work of keeping records of the myriad parts of the organization continues to grow.


The role of service coordinator keeps morphing as the organization has grown over the past several years. “The position is not set in stone by any means,” Mona says. “It keeps evolving as we see what’s needed to keep the camps and program running as efficiently as possible.”

Mona’s understanding of the need to provide temporary stable shelter for people whose lives are in crisis has grown. “Hearing clients’ personal stories demonstrates to me again and again how the uplift of simply receiving temporary shelter helps turn things around for many people we serve,” she says. “And the gratitude expressed by them for compassionate basic support is deeply heartfelt.”


She adds, “My perspective has also changed as to how people with mental illness do their best to cope, but are not always successful at retaining stable, long-term housing. That’s where CSS offers some basic support until a person either stabilizes with medication or counseling, or supportive housing in the larger community can be established.”


Mona recognizes the importance of a growing group of supporters to keep the work of the CSS vision alive. “Visions need worker bees to make things happen, and that’s where the many volunteers and donors make CSS truly a community effort.”


“The name ‘Community Supported Shelters’ has always seemed to me to be an inspired one—fostering community in the camps and engaging the wider Eugene/Springfield community to support the Safe Spot program’s success.


“What a wild ride it’s been these past 2½ years,” Mona says. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute my part.”


Kristin Fay is just as grateful to have Mona’s contribution: “Mona’s ability to stay calm and flexible with all the changes we’ve experienced at CSS is a huge asset and blessing. She is very smart, supportive, loving, a wonderful co-worker, a teacher, and a beautiful friend. She is an incredible asset to Community Supported Shelters in so many ways.”

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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