Jane’s Story: The Importance of Temporary Shelter

Last week we sat down with past ShelterCare program participant, Jane, who shared her story of hard work and triumph. We are pleased to share that story with you. “I became unhoused when I realized that my mother was quite abusive and I got very tired of it,” explains Jane, “it was really on and off for about a year and a half. It was between couch hopping, Station 7, and PEER Shelter (both Looking Glass shelters).”

Accessing services that kept her safe wasn’t always easy, “I was 17 at the time, so my mother could easily pull my permission to stay at shelters,” Jane says, “as soon as I turned 18, I was able to actually stay at a shelter because I was an adult.”

Going through all of this at such a young age deeply affected Jane, “I didn’t have a lot of hope to get into housing, so I didn’t really try,” she says, “I did a little too much drugs and alcohol, which was also an issue because I was chasing a high rather than chasing a house.”

At this age, most people go through a time of major growth and self-discovery. For Jane, it was the same, but also while grappling with homelessness and figuring out how to cope, “After that (substance abuse), and after dealing with abusive relationships, I realized I have one life and I gotta use it properly. I got it together and went back to school and got onto a bunch of waitlists,” they said.

Shortly after this revelation, Jane got an opportunity that changed everything, “In the PEER shelter, I was woken up early one morning and it was a surprise – “Hey, we found a place for you! There’s a place specifically for somebody at PEER, we think you’d be perfect for this opening.” And I was like, “Yes get me in, please!” They got me connected and I literally moved in the same day,” she reminisces.

That opening was in the ShelterCare Short-Term Housing Emergency Shelter through BHRN-LC (Behavioral Health Resource Network-Lane County). BHRN-LC is a collaborative group of service providers with the goal of providing a single point of access to harm reduction, treatment, and recovery outcomes for people who use drugs. ShelterCare’s portion is to provide low-barrier, temporary shelter and housing navigation support for single adults receiving BHRN-LC supportive services. 

This stable housing led to some big growth in Jane’s life, “I got into ShelterCare and then I graduated high school!” they exclaimed, “I also joined the 15th Night Youth Action Council!”

15th Night is a youth-informed community movement to end youth homelessness by connecting existing resources and finding innovative ways to keep youth in school and off the streets. The guiding principle is that youth who are new to the streets are more likely to become chronically homeless if there is no intervention within 15 nights.

Through this volunteer work with 15th Night, Jane was connected to A Family for Every Child (AFFEC), and her next housing opportunity, “It was AFFEC that helped me get connected to where I’m living now,” she says, “they let me know about the opening where I’m currently living, when I only had a couple months left to stay at ShelterCare, so I took that option. It has been a little less than two months that I’ve been at Imagination House.”

Imagination House is a transitional housing program open to female-identifying youth ages 18-20 years old. Youth must be in the current custody of DHS or have a history of homelessness to be eligible. Youth living at Imagination House have the support of staff to learn and develop independence skills, such as budgeting, creating healthy routines for themselves, cooking, being a responsible renter, and much more.

Temporary housing can seem like a small part of someone’s story. In this case, the BHRN-LC shelter was available for up to six months. Without her stay at ShelterCare, Jane would have been waiting another six months on the street for permanent housing. That is six more months of experiencing the trauma of constantly living in survival mode; making succeeding in school and conquering substance abuse significantly more difficult. In 2024, The McKinney-Vento state report card in Oregon showed that 58.6% of unhoused students graduate in four years, compared to over 80% of all students.

“I really like the new house!” says Jane. Now that they have stable housing, they are excited to pursue their goals for the future. One of those goals is getting back into old hobbies, “I used to draw a lot and I’ve been practicing every day to get that going again,” says Jane.

She is also continuing her volunteer work, “I’m a youth advocate with 15th Night and I do volunteer work with Hosea Youth Services – services I used to access in the past. It’s really cool, it came full circle,” she explains.

Jane also recently took a big step toward their dream job, “My goal is to get into Peer Support work soon because I just recently got my Peer Support Specialist certification. I’m very passionate about the people who have helped me and I want to give back at some point. I’m officially a YSS (Youth Support Specialist),” she says.

Access to ShelterCare’s emergency shelter and case management gave Jane the opportunity to achieve independence. Your donation will help us house and provide support to more individuals, so they can continue moving forward in their personal growth. Will you change a life with us by donating today?