Cascade Alliance

One Good Thing: A Little National Attention for Our Work

Mostly on this blog we talk about our social enterprises, the things that we and our Cascade Alliance members do to earn the money that allows us to serve our mission. But today, we’re mission focused. One of our homeless programs was recognized on a national TV news show (seen in the video above- the section on Eugene starts at the 3:00 mark in the video).  Tucker Carlson’s multi-day “Homeless in America” piece wraps up with our Dusk to Dawn program, which you can read more about here.

Our collaboration with Eugene city and Lane County governments has created this unique way station for those who have no place to live. Because St. Vincent de Paul takes an entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving, we can respond quickly when our local leaders need solutions.

That need emerged last winter when small tent cities began erupting in downtown Eugene. A legal decision meant officials could not move folks from the street without identifying a place where they could legally sleep. We had the land available. We already had MASH tents on site for homeless community members wanting a safe warm dry place as winter weather set in. The city and county bought additional tents and funding for case managers. The county quickly graded the lot so more tents could be added.

Together we got it done quickly and since January, the case managers have helped 40 people find housing.

We’re honored that a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation lets us share nationally our strategies for meaningful collaboration.