QuickTake:

As a heatwave and smoky air settles in Eugene and Springfield, St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County opens doors to people who need protection from the extreme heat and unhealthy air.

Carlos Lepe knows firsthand what it’s like to need shelter during extreme weather. 

He’s the emergency response manager at St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, where he worked 16-hour shifts during the winter’s Egan Warming Center operations, sometimes sleeping in his office overnight. The centers were open for 21 days consecutively last winter as temperatures dropped below freezing. 

“People suffer cold weather injuries and hot weather injuries, respectively, in their respective seasons. And people can die from those injuries,” he said. 

But for Lepe, it’s more than a job. He was homeless when he was 17. 

“This is a pretty personal thing for me,” he said.

Lepe joined the crew Tuesday running St. Vincent de Paul’s cooling and smoke shelters at the Lane Events Center. The shelters are open Tuesday, Aug. 4, through Friday, Aug. 7., from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

As wildfire smoke coincides with a heat advisory, the shelter offers protection for anyone who is experiencing homelessness or may need a place to go in the unhealthy air. 

St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County also offers free transportation via Lane Transit District to the shelter. Anyone can board a bus, say they’re going to a cooling center, and ride for free — no pass, no documentation required. 

“It’s incredibly important during times like this when you not only have the heat, but you have the air quality compounding that heat,” said Bill Barnard, director of operations for St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County. “People have to have access to be able to be safe, to kind of kick back, to be able to kind of catch their bearings and kind of reset.”

This marks the shelter’s first opening of the summer, as parts of Lane County face the season’s first wildfire smoke event. Monday afternoon, smoke from wildfires east of the Cascades seeped into the Willamette Valley, settling overnight.

The Air Quality Index, which measures air pollution on a scale of 0 to 500, has stayed at the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” level — a category that includes people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and pregnant people.

In addition, temperatures are expected to exceed 90 degrees over the next few days, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory.

Connie Sullivan, medical volunteer (left) and Cayetana Gomez, medical reserve corps manager for St. Vincent (right), at the Lane Events cooling and smoke shelter in Meeting Room 1, West. Credit: Brooke Taché / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

For people without access to proper cooling or air purification, the shelter provides an escape from these harsh conditions.

Run by St. Vincent de Paul staff and volunteers, the shelter has space for 50 to 60 people, as well as belongings, bikes and pets. 

Heat stress is a leading cause of weather-related deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization. During heat waves, people experiencing homelessness who lack consistent access to air conditioning, water and shade face a significantly higher risk of heat stroke and death than the general population.

“I can’t imagine the hot weather and cold weather casualties we would suffer if programs like this didn’t exist,” Lepe said.