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It’s instructive to begin on 7th Avenue and Washington Street in Eugene on any given winter evening.
From that starting point, walk the windy asphalt trail through Washington/Jefferson Park. You see them instantly tarps and tents by the layered dozens, each containing stories of homeless men and women who are holding threads of dignity.
The tarps and tents are properly spaced (a nod to COVID-19), but they are everywhere under the viaducts of the Washington/Jefferson area, or those areas that the city of Eugene has not walled off.
Walk slowly. Absorb it.
Then walk north, over a gentle embankment and past more emergency shelters, and you find young basketball players and younger skateboarders testing their skills. Beyond that, you’ll find a collective of social workers handing out hot chili and clothing donations.