Egan warming centers activate across Lane County during cold snap

St. Vincent de Paul activated the Egan warming centers on the night of Thursday, Jan. 14, opening five sites across Eugene and Springfield to shelter people experiencing freezing temperatures. The organization placed the same sites on standby for Jan. 15 as cold conditions persisted, calling for trained volunteers to help staff operations and urging community support for immediate needs.

The network of sites included the Mohawk location in Springfield; the Transportation Hub at First Christian Church in Eugene; the Lane Events Center Auditorium; The Zone on Hwy 99 in Eugene; and a youth-specific site at First United Methodist Church in Eugene. Doors generally opened at 7 p.m., with the youth site opening at 6 p.m., providing evening shelter during hours when hypothermia risk rises. The activation covered both adult and youth needs by staging a dedicated youth site and multiple public locations within central service corridors.

Immediate impact fell on people living outdoors, households in precarious housing, and the nonprofit staff and volunteers who run winter shelters. For local residents, the activation meant available emergency shelter in city-accessible sites and highlighted ongoing gaps between shelter capacity and seasonal demand. Nonprofit-run warming centers typically depend on volunteer labor, donated supplies and short-term funding; organizers’ request for trained volunteers underscores that staffing is often the constraining resource when temperatures drop.

The activation also has policy and budget implications for Lane County and municipal leaders. Repeated emergency openings of warming centers point to recurring winter exposure risks and persistent homelessness, which can strain nonprofit budgets and shift costs into urgent operational needs such as staffing, transportation and meal provision. For local government, the pattern reinforces the importance of coordinated emergency plans, investment in year-round shelter capacity and predictable funding to reduce reliance on crisis-driven responses.

From a long-term perspective, winter activations remain a visible symptom of broader trends: shelters and outreach services are managing both seasonal weather shocks and structural housing shortages. Sustained investment in affordable housing, mental health and addiction services, and volunteer training programs would reduce the frequency and human toll of emergency openings.

For now, the community response—donations, volunteer sign-ups and municipal coordination—determines how fully these sites can protect people during cold nights. As Lane County moves through winter, expect similar activations when forecasts show freezing conditions, and watch for calls from local providers about volunteer needs and supply drives that help keep warming centers open.