© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

EPD Constructs Huts For Homeless Individuals

Local emergency first responders partnered with mental health and homeless advocates to build a temporary housing hut in downtown Eugene.  Police Chief Chris Skinner says this is an example of 21st century policing.

The Eugene Police department purchased 9 Conestoga Huts with money from the City Council Community Safety System Bridge Fundto address safety needs. Chief Skinner says building 9 huts means 9 less individuals using emergency services.

Credit Melorie Begay/KLCC News
EPD Police Chief Chris Skinner drills in part of the porch on the Conestoga Hut.

SKINNER: “This is the perfect partnership between Community Supported Shelters and White Bird CAHOOTS, and EPD to find those individuals that we can get them to a more stable environment and get them on kind of a path of wellness and that means we don’t have to respond as much.”

Chief Skinner says this partnership is part of a larger initiative for EPD to build relationships with local support services and citizens. Future Conestoga Huts will be built throughout the city depending on who’s willing to host the 6 by 14 foot temporary homes.

Melorie Begay is a multimedia journalist for KLCC News. She was the Inaugural KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She has a bachelors in Multimedia Journalism from the University of New Mexico. She previously interned at KUNM public radio in Albuquerque, NM and served as a fellow for the online news publication New Mexico In Depth.