QuickTake:

Community Supported Shelters, which manages 170 "Conestoga" huts, is purchasing a building and plans to renovate it with offices for staff, warehouse areas, and better spaces to provide a variety of services directly to the unsheltered population in Eugene.

Workers at Community Supported Shelters make do in a cramped space where they share desks and have no space for private meetings with the unsheltered people they serve.

The Eugene nonprofit has grown rapidly in recent years, expanding its roster of huts where people can live off the streets. Today there are more than 170 huts in 14 sites throughout Eugene. The organization provides other services, too, such as helping people obtain employment or housing, and assisting with the legal paperwork necessary to rent or work. 

Community Supported Shelters, which started in 2013, now has plans to move its staff into a new building it purchased at 2870 W. 10th Place in Eugene. The building, formerly an Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services office, needs renovation before the organization’s staff can start to visit clients there. 

The organization has started a capital campaign to raise money for that renovation. When finished, the project will allow room for staffers to meet with clients for private one-on-one meetings; add office space, information technology systems, heating and ventilation equipment; and build warehouse space to store supplies for shelters. 

“This new building is more than just a roof over our heads. It’s a foundation for growth, healing and deeper community impact,” Heather Quaas-Annsa, co-executive director of Community Supported Shelters, said in a statement. “With expanded kitchen space, a firewood yard, and dedicated areas for both client and staff well-being, we’re building a space that reflects our mission: dignity, stability, and connection for everyone we serve.” 

Quaas-Annsa said the organization hopes to have staff in the new location sometime between March and May 2026. That timeline is contingent on funding.

For the renovation, the group hopes to raise about $400,000 in donations as well as in-kind gifts such as building supplies and construction materials, Quaas-Annsa said. 

Overall, the organization has the goal of raising $750,000 when factoring in the down payment for the building. The group is in possession of the building and has raised about $432,000 total, with more than $300,000 still needed to get the property prepared. 

They’ll move out of an existing location at 1160 Grant St. when the project is finished. 

But Community Supported Shelters also serves clients who come for other services at its Access Center.

When the new building is ready, staffers will offer front desk and check-in services for clients at the organization’s Access Center, 1845 W. 11th Ave. That location also currently offers day services such as showers and laundry services. It served more than 750 people last year.

The agency is also looking for partnerships and grants to help clients access primary care and behavioral health care services. The goal is to help people overcome barriers to care, Quaas-Annsa said.

“The more things that we can bring to the places where our clients are and where the unhoused are at, the easier it is for them to start receiving services and start their journey towards stabilization,” she said.

For more information about how to donate, go to the nonprofit’s website for the capital campaign. Donors with questions can call 541-514-9335 or email: community@cssoregon.org. The organization is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.