QuickTake:

The Eugene Mission’s executive director, Sheryl Balthrop, will sit on a bench and talk with community members about homelessness. The event, called “Conversations on a Bench,” is aimed at increasing understanding and dialogue about the challenges surrounding homelessness.

Sheryl Balthrop is about to embark on a 24-hour marathon of conversations with people from all walks of life about homelessness in Eugene.

Balthrop, executive director of the nonprofit Eugene Mission, will helm a 24-hour livestreamed event called “Conversations on a Bench.” The event, which starts at noon Thursday and lasts until noon Friday, will feature the perspectives of more than 100 people about homelessness in Eugene.

“The idea is to have some real, gritty conversations with community members, guests, policymakers, people with lived experience and really get down to the underlying causes of homelessness,” Balthrop said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. 

The stage with the bench where Balthrop and guests will work is already set up on the grounds of the Eugene Mission campus, which serves nearly 300 people at any given time, providing shelter and offering programs to help people recover from drug and alcohol addiction and learn life skills to gain independence. The mission’s guests include men, women and children.

The guest lineup will include people who have experienced homelessness, families who have lost loved ones on the streets, volunteers at the mission and other providers.

Balthrop said the goal is to have good discussions that guide solutions. Each perspective on the 24-hour livestream contributes to that dialogue.

“We’re hoping to have in-depth conversations where we can talk about how can we as a community really move forward,” Balthrop said.

Lane County’s Point-in-Time count for homeless people, conducted on the night of Jan. 29, found 3,509 people, both living in shelters and unsheltered. That’s a 14% increase compared to 2024.

Balthrop plans to stay awake the entire time, with the mission’s staff streaming the program live, rain or shine.

Viewers will hear visits with volunteers like Anne Galick, a volunteer who started out organizing a Bible study for women and who now works to raise awareness about the organization, provide tours and do outreach.

“Let’s say there’s a community group that can’t make it to the mission for a tour,” Galick said. “We go out and meet with them about the mission to bring awareness and people are amazed.”

Galick said it’s been “life-changing” for her to see women enter the shelter and develop healthy relationships and gain independence who then want to give back and help others.

In that vein, the lineup also is intended to offer hope through success stories — perspectives from people who were once guests at the mission and now live independent lives.

Renee Rosati, a guest in the women’s life-change program at the mission, entered nearly a year ago, suffering from alcohol addiction.

When she arrived, her son was homeless and she had not seen him for more than a year. Her mentor took her on a drive, and they found him — and were reunited, she said.

She has regained her driver’s license and is planning to look for work, possibly as a peer-support specialist, and put her experiences to use helping others.

“The girls that have graduated, they come and they visit,” Rosati said. “They have great jobs, and so that’s my next move — to find a job.”

The event is timed to coincide with World Homeless Day, on Oct. 10. The local event is part of a coordinated program through Citygate Network, a national association of faith-based missions that are participating across the United States.

The Eugene Mission is a faith-based Christian nonprofit, and serves guests from all backgrounds, regardless of religion.

How to watch

The public can attend the livestream in person at the Eugene Mission campus, 1542 W. First Ave., or watch online at www.eugenemission.org, www.facebook.com/theeugenemission, or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2TVrwE-vz2zidC_2l8QBDw.

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.