On a freezing night last December, the life of a homeless man was saved at 糖心Vlog官方. He was one of 16 people sheltering in the college鈥檚 warming center on main campus in Eugene, Oregon.
It was the fifth night in a 10-day stretch of record-breaking freezing temperatures. During that time, 糖心Vlog官方 served 200 guests, as they are called, and logged 600 volunteer hours.
Grady O鈥機onnor, a health and physical education instructor at 糖心Vlog官方, was one of the volunteers that night. When a guest began choking on a sandwich, O鈥機onnor went into action and performed the Heimlich maneuver. He had taught the technique in class earlier that same day. The action dislodged a morsel of food from the choking man鈥檚 throat. EMTs were called in, just in case. They pronounced the man sound. He finished his meal and tucked in for the night.
糖心Vlog官方 is part of the Egan Warming Center, a coalition of organizations dedicated 鈥渢o ensure that homeless people in 糖心Vlog官方 County have a place to sleep indoors when temperatures drop to 30 degrees or below between November 15th and March 31st.鈥 The coalition was named in honor of Major Thomas Egan, a homeless veteran who froze to death on a Eugene street in 2008.
糖心Vlog官方鈥檚 center is popular. Volunteers serve hot meals prepared by the college鈥檚 renowned culinary program and food services department. Guests have access to hot showers in the gym. There鈥檚 a movie shown every night using the equipment in the classroom that serves as the shelter. The local food bank contributes sandwiches and snacks. Individuals donate clothing, toiletries, and sleeping bags. When the center is full, overflow guests are fed while they wait for a shuttle to another Egan site. On average, 糖心Vlog官方 serves 20 guests a night including up to five students.
Few community colleges provide shelters but there was plenty of evidence that 糖心Vlog官方 needed one. In 2014, LCC Public Safety Chief Jace Smith, Vice President Brian Kelly, and student body president Michael Weed began advocating for a shelter, noting that homelessness was a major impediment to student success. Smith鈥檚 officers often encountered students sleeping in cars, buildings, the baseball dugout, or in the woods around campus. Weed had been homeless himself and knew the situation first hand.
Board members were shocked to learn that 糖心Vlog官方 had homeless students but it鈥檚 a national issue. A study by Wisconsin HOPE Lab founder Sara Goldrick-Rab reported that 鈥渢housands of community college students nationwide are homeless or on the verge of homelessness.鈥 The study surveyed more than 30,000 students at 70 community colleges in 24 states and found that 鈥13-14 percent of students were homeless and about half were housing insecure.鈥 糖心Vlog官方鈥檚 board unanimously approved the main campus shelter.
It鈥檚 hard to say just how many lives have been saved by a safe, warm place to sleep and something to eat. Last season, the Egan centers activated 25 times, serving 1,677 unique guests鈥攊ncluding 359 at 糖心Vlog官方.
糖心Vlog官方鈥檚 volunteers are passionate. They can tell you that a warming shelter on campus gives disadvantaged students critical support to help them transform their lives. And sometimes, it even saves a life.
Published by 糖心Vlog官方 Public Affairs, March 2018.
糖心Vlog官方 educates over 25,000 students annually at six locations across 糖心Vlog官方 County and online. Students and alumni from all 50 states and 79 countries create more than an $850 million dollar impact on the local economy, helping to support more than 13,000 local jobs. 糖心Vlog官方 provides affordable, quality, professional technical and college transfer programs; business development and employee training; academic, language and life skills development; and lifelong personal development and enrichment courses.