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Community‑services staff outline homelessness assistance: mobile showers, trust fund and relocation help
Summary
The community services coordinator reported on local homelessness response: a weekly mobile shower program with 350 showers since July, a donor‑funded 'unhoused trust' used for small emergency needs, and coordination to move vulnerable people to shelters and housing.
Teresa Cowan, Community Services coordinator, reported to the council on the city's homelessness assistance work, describing volunteer‑run services, a donor trust fund and recent housing outcomes for vulnerable residents.
Cowan said the city's mobile shower program operates every Wednesday; since July volunteers have provided about 350 showers and recorded roughly 600 volunteer hours (Cowan estimated a volunteer‑hour dollar value of about $20,000). The service has closed only twice in nine months for extreme weather.
Cowan described the city's "unhoused trust," a donor fund established by a private gift in 2022 to support short‑term needs for people experiencing homelessness. She said donations have come from community members, local churches and foundations and that the trust has been used to pay for short stays, transportation and basic needs in coordination with partner organizations. Cowan gave examples: the trust and partners helped a domestic‑violence survivor with three children secure shelter and household items; community donors and partners raised $900 quickly to help a 77‑year‑old woman avoid immediate homelessness; Cowan said that at least five women have been housed in Cottage Grove and one in Eugene after coordinated efforts following the closure of an unmanaged camp.
Cowan credited volunteers and nonprofit partners for the scope of services and said many help with outreach, the mobile shower, and volunteer time. She described frequent, complex requests, including calls from elderly residents at imminent risk of losing housing, and said staff and partners are often working under resource constraints. Cowan said she is coordinating a South Lane Resource Guide transfer to local nonprofits to continue distribution and is assisting volunteers and partners on other projects.
Why it matters: council members heard that while volunteer efforts have sustained services such as the mobile showers and emergency assistance, the city relies on partnerships and limited donor funds to meet immediate needs and to move vulnerable people toward housing. Cowan said many cases involve elderly or medically vulnerable residents.
Cowan also told the council she plans to retire in July and acknowledged the network of community partners that has supported the work.
No formal council action was taken; Cowan's report is a summary of ongoing service delivery and coordination.
