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OLPH Catholic Church

First Presbyterian Church

HOW WE GOT STARTED

During the winter of 2008-2009, Major Thomas Egan, a homeless veteran, froze to death in Eugene. The event energized the Eugene/Springfield community to found the Egan Warming Center, a program that provides shelter to homeless people during the coldest months of the year.

There had been talk of creating a similar program in Cottage Grove, and some individuals had even done a great deal of preliminary work to try to make this happen, but the founding of the Eugene warming center gave the final impetus to creating a Cottage Grove winter warming center.

A broad coalition of community social service agencies, church leaders, government officials, and public-minded individuals came together in October of 2009 to begin the process of establishing such a project, which was christened Beds for Freezing Nights.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of this coalition, as well as generous donations of facilities, bedding materials, volunteer time, and financial support from numerous community sources, an initial site for the warming center was secured. More than three dozen volunteers participated in a full day of training in preparation for its opening debut in mid-December 2009.

However, the weather that reached the activation temperature of 28 degrees Fahrenheit for opening the center had occurred earlier in the season. While the warming center was not needed for the balance of the winter, the coalition's planning efforts paved the way for the group to gear up for the winter of 2010.