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Homeless Advocate Shares Concerns, Solutions In Wake Of Lane County Shelter Shutdowns

KLCC | By Tiffany Eckert
Published June 5, 2020 at 3:44 AM PDT
Chris Hecht

Many advocates in Lane County are worried about the chronically unhoused and what will happen to them after today’s (Friday) closure of two COVID-Relief respite shelters. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reached out to White Bird Clinic—an organization with 50 years’ experience of helping people on the streets. Executive Coordinator Chris Hecht talks about his concerns and what kinds of solutions they advocate for.

Credit Bill Holderfield
Gerty Ferguson, masked against COVID-19 threats, provides information and referral services at White Bird's Resource Distribution Site in Eugene

Credit Tiffany Eckert
Sarah Williams prepares to leave the respite center in Eugene's Lane Events Center after living there for 2 months during the pandemic shut down. She says she is not sure where she will go tomorrow.
Credit Tiffany Eckert
Tents are still pitched in the lot of the fairgrounds on the eve of Lane County's closure plan for COVID-Relief respite centers in Eugene and Springfield.

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Housing & Homelessness homelesshomelessnessWhite BirdWhitebirdCoronavirus
Tiffany Eckert
Tiffany joined the KLCC News team in 2007. She studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked in a variety of media including television, technical writing, photography and daily print news before moving to the Pacific Northwest.
See stories by Tiffany Eckert
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