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“Superstar Volunteers” for CSS: First United Methodist Church

June 21, 2017


The First United Methodist Church (FUMC) congregation has been a stellar supporter for Community Supported Shelters this past year. Members of the FUMC congregation actively seek out opportunities in the community to serve those in need, and CSS is one of the organizations that they have chosen to support.


Thanks to a cadre of volunteers from FUMC, there’s a new, enclosed food pantry at CSS headquarters on Grant Street.


The pantry was a requirement for CSS to qualify as a Food for Lane County pantry site. It is now used to store donated food items for the Safe Spot camps, which come from Food for Lane County and individuals. The Food Pantry Volunteer Coordinator orders and picks up donations from Food for Lane County then distributes food to the camp communities once a week.


“Having dedicated groups of volunteers like the folks at First United Methodist Church means everything,” says Fay de Buhr, co-executive director of CSS. “It’s what makes the work of Community Supported Shelters possible.”


First United Methodist Church also hosted the Annual CSS Benefit dinner in March, which was a huge success due to the enthusiastic participation of FUMC members.

Kathi Hoffer, Blake English, and Lee Sutton helped to plan the event. Blake was the head cook for the dinner, a role that suits him well as he has much experience in the world of Texas barbecue. The annual dinner included about 160 pounds of barbecue, six gallons of beans, and all the other fixings.


Kathi and the First United Women’s Group helped facilitate the dessert dash, which brought in $3200 to help build a new kitchen at the Roosevelt Safe Spot. Kathi and Blake also donated a stay at the Adobe Resort at the coast and a Texas BBQ for 20 people for our raffle drawing. Many others in the congregation helped set up and clean up, and many brought desserts. JoAnn English was the “behind the scenes” angel supporting the cook and keeping the BBQ buffet well stocked throughout the dinner. Rosalie Hulbert headed a team of volunteers that spent endless hours in the kitchen putting away dishes after the event.


The church waived the venue fees for the event and provided all the dinnerware, tables, and chairs and equipment, which helped make the event run so smoothly.


In addition to the food pantry and the fundraising dinner, Lee and several other church members have been making and serving lunch to the Expressway Safe Spot camp residents following their monthly work parties.


The United Methodist Women of FUMC raised $1,000 to donate to CSS, and the FUMC ‘Sock it to Mission’ campaign and Justice and Mission Matters (JAMM) fundraisers raised $2,600 for CSS as well.


“Everyone at First United Methodist Church has been very gracious, generous, thoughtful, thorough, and kind,” says Fay. “Words can’t truly describe how grateful and blessed we feel to have the support of these folks. It’s been a divine journey.”

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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