The Story of the Village .
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
Setting the Stage
Before the Village (2021)
The Everyone Village story begins long before a single tiny home is built. In 2021 on the corner of 18th & Chambers, Gabe accepted the job of Pastor at Westside Church. Shortly after beginning, Gabe became friends with a few of Eugene’s unhoused and invited them to take shelter under the church’s porch. This act of humanity was formalized into a program in partnership with the City Manager’s office and the Police Department.
Present Day
With still over 2 acres of the Village property undeveloped the future is bright for E1V! We are currently working with several of our partners to shape the next season of the Village story. We are excited to continue pioneering innovative ways to help folks experiencing homelessness go from the street to shelter to regaining health and flourishing to growing again and giving back to the community.
In January of 2023, just a year after its opening, Everyone Village opened the Welcome Center. A multi-use space, the center holds a computer resource center for Villagers, a clothing and goods donation area, small library, staff offices and private meeting space for provider partners. Every week the center hosts the all-village meeting lunch and has now hosted several community events that have brought the neighborhood, community and larger world together with the Village. Most recently, OPB’s “Think Out Loud” recorded an episode of the show in the center.
Early in the life of the Village a small knowledge-share grant was awarded to Everyone Village by the Silicon Valley Trust and Hancock family. The grant brought the young E1V team into a set of Zoom learning workshops with the team at The Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, CA. The Homeless Garden Project is a thirty year old organization that provides workforce development training and opportunities through a large farm-to-table garden operation. In September ‘22, after the knowledge share workshops a small, but hearty, group of Village staff and residents went to Santa Cruz for a week long intensive with the team there. After the success of the trip E1V applied and was awarded a beginning implementation grant to begin efforts on a garden program at the Village. In July of ‘23 Everyone Village ‘broke ground’ on this effort.
A few months later in December, OBRC delivered three reverse vending machines to Everyone Village where they were installed and Everyone Village officially became an alternative redemption site for recycling. Staffed by Villagers, who earn a paycheck for operating the program, this program quickly became a crown jewel of the Village.
In October of 2022 the E1V team connected with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC). In an effort to create transitional employment opportunities for Villagers and be good stewards of the environment a dynamic partnership was formed. After the E1V team toured the OBRC plant outside of Portland a formal plan was laid.
This season also sees the birth of an amazing partnership between the Village and One Hope, Lane Marble, Lowes, Lane ESD, Lane Workforce Partnership and PIVOT architecture. Together this larger community impact team designed, developed and began building Cottages of Hope at the Village and in local high school shop classes. As this partnership took off Statewide it has become its own entity, Constructing a Brighter Future.
After a modest first winter, the E1V team wasted no time developing and growing the Village through the Spring and Summer of 2022. StoneWood Construction began work on renovating an adjacent warehouse into the Village Welcome Center and the Village Workshop. Several partners also came alongside the Village and helped to get a sewer system and electrical system installed across the four acre property.
With all of the necessary approvals in place Everyone Village opened on January 1, 2022. The E1V team worked with the City’s public works team to set-up the first pallet houses for the very first Everyone Villagers.
With the homeless crisis seemingly worsening by the day, the E1V team partnered with University of Oregon architecture and design students to make the first concept map of Everyone Village.
Standing on the newly acquired four acres, Gabe and his team partnered with Lane County Commissioners, City of Eugene Counselors, City Managers and West Eugene business owners to pursue the development of Everyone Village.
The small wins that Gabe and the team were getting ‘on the table’ in West Eugene caught the attention of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and Arlen Rexius, President of the Rexius Company in West Eugene. On September 1st, Arlen Rexius offered the use of four acres of land on Janisse Street.
At this time, surrounding the small warehouse and dominating West Eugene’s industrial sector were several hundred folks living in RV’s. The scale of the scene demanded attention. Gabe and his team leaned into the crisis and began improving conditions for everyone. This led to a grant from the City to help lead the response to the worsening homeless crisis.
After Covid, the church at 18th & Chambers closed as planned. Then Gabe and a small group of scrappy leaders set-up operations in a small warehouse in West Eugene. This is where the first tiny home is built and the first pieces of what would become Everyone Village start coming together.