St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County has opened a new resource hub on Highway 99, next to its Eugene Service Station.
The Schlies Resource Center will house office spaces where clients can meet with service providers such as HIV Alliance, the Oregon Department of Human Services, Senior and Disability Services, and Goodwill Job Connections.
St. Vinnie’s Executive Director, Bethany Cartledge, said the nonprofit already provides meals, laundry, and mail services next door. Now, she said, the goal is to make this area a "one-stop shop" for people experiencing hardship or homelessness.
“Instead of folks trying to move between all of these different organizations, they can come here, have the day access. Their laundry is in the machine," said Cartledge. "They're able to come over, and connect with a case manager who's going to help."
According to Cartledge, the center is primarily funded through St. Vinnie's stores, and the nonprofit's other operations. She said partners will be able to use this space at no cost.
Cartledge said many of these partners have already been providing services at St. Vinnie’s locations on Highway 99, but this new building will grant clients more privacy.
She said she hopes this space will help meet evolving needs of the local community—including more elderly women facing homelessness, and people facing homelessness for the first time.
"We have a lot of folks who do receive some level of income, whether it's (Supplemental Security Income), or even some folks who have full time jobs," said Cartledge. "But they're not able to afford rentals in this market."
The center is named in honor of Marianne Schlies, St. Vinnie’s longtime finance and contract manager. Schlies said she's honored at the dedication, but this was a group effort by the entire team.
"We have people that have been here 15, 20, 30 years, and we've dreamt for a long time about having on-site services," said Schlies. "And now it's finally happened."
The opening also comes as several homeless services have recently shuttered in Eugene, including White Bird's Front Rooms department and CAHOOTS mobile crisis response.
Cartledge said the closure of Front Rooms downtown hasn't led to a direct increase in demand for St. Vinnie's services on Highway 99—but she's worried people may now be falling through the cracks.
"For people who are accessing services, they want to stay close to the area that's most familiar. And so I'm not sure if all of those folks would come over here, even though there's a day access, even though there are services available," said Cartledge. "I am concerned about the folks who may have been receiving services downtown and don't currently have an option."
