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Past Activity

A St Vinnie’s Tour

  • Start date: 02/13/2026

  • Start time: 8:15 AM

  • End date: 02/13/2026

  • End time: 12:00 PM

Description:

Our tour for Obsidians is a guided tour (we go around in their vans from the office, to the stops and then back to the office.) that will give you a behind-the-scenes look at how SVdP supports our community through a unique mix of housing, homeless services, and sustainable social enterprises. Whether you're curious about our programs or considering how to get more involved, this is a great way to experience the impact up close. My contact for this tour is Darrel Kau who is the Community Engagement Director. The tour itself goes from 8:30-11:30.
Meet at: 2890 Chad Drive, St. Vincent de Paul office in Eugene

Tour stops include:

Human Services & Shelter Programs

Dawn to Dawn – Transitional shelter program for individuals
Eugene Service Station – Day services and basic needs for unhoused adults
Lindholm Service Center – Central hub for shelter access and support
Safe Sleep Sites (410 & 310 Garfield) – Organized indoor and outdoor shelter communities
First Place Family Center – Day-access support for families with children experiencing homelessness, including Lane County’s only licensed childcare center for unhoused children

  • Event Leader: Jorry Rolfe

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-206-9501

  • Event Leader Email: jorry.rolfe@gmail.com

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Urban

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles:

  • Season: 2026

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required:

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 1

  • Member Fees: —

  • Elevation Gain:

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

We had a wonderful St.Vincent de Paul (SVdP) of Lane County tour of several shelter stops with staff members, Darrel and Ralph. All of us piled into a van at their admininstrative office on Chad Drive for the 3-hour activity. We first visited their Dawn to Dawn site on Hwy 99N which offers transitional emergency shelter. Most of the unhoused individuals here live in large heated tents that accomodate many beds. We next saw the Schlies Resource Center, the Eugene Service Station, followed by a visit to the nearby Zone, their new Egan Warming Center facility that they purchased last summer. These 3 programs are all a five-minute walk from the Dawn to Dawn site; excellent services are provided and experienced staff serve with dignity and compassion. Next, we viewed the 2 facilities on Garfield Street that are Safe Sleep Sites: \"410\" is an indoor site offering secure, managed sleeping spaces (tents) while \\\\\\\"310\\\\\\\" is an outdoor space for those living in their trailers or RVs. All the sites are low barrier shelters for those aged 18+ that eliminate typical requirements like sobriety, identification, income, or background checks, that welcome individuals with emotional support animals and that are designed to be a starting point for moving out of homelessness. Our final stop was on W. Amazon to see the First Place Family Center where a newly hired manager proudly showed us the new childcare center, the only licensed one In Lane County for children experiencing homelessness. Familes come for the day for meals, showers and laundry while part of this building provides about 20 dorm rooms for families who can now stay up to 6 months in one of the rooms. We learned much on this field trip about the ways we can support (with money and donations) and get involved (by volunteering at the warming centers) with the mission of SVdP. Founded here in 1954, SVdP is \"in the business of good for our community\" and the tour showed how innovative and caring they have been and continue to be in our community.