On Monday, Dec. 8, the Eugene City Council approved Nightingale Health Sanctuary’s plan to operate a self-governed, village-style community on county land near the Lane County Behavioral Health building through April 2015.

Nightingale welcomes new volunteers with skills in communication, construction, fundraising, health and wellness, and more. We need people to take the trash to the dump and to write grants. If you want to help, volunteer here or contact us at nightingalehealthsanctuary@gmail.com

If you would like to help with a financial contribution, you can donate here .Thanks to everyone who has offered to help and also many thanks to all our allies who have helped us get this far.The two new rest stops will focus on health and wellness and will be accessible and inclusive. Both able-bodied people and those with disabilities will be welcome and able to camp there. NHS plans to maintain a balance so that campers who need assistance can find it among the other campers.

Nightingale Health Sanctuary (NHS) is happy to have the opportunity to run a temporary double rest stop for up to 30 people on county land. Steering committee members and others close to the project express their appreciation to both the city and the county for partnering to make this property available to Nightingale.

Members of the NHS steering committee, while eager to get started with the new rest stops, want to remind the people that an additional 30 places to sleep for the unsheltered still leaves many hundreds of Lane County residents out in the cold on winter nights and that there is still a huge amount of work to do to make Eugene “the Human Rights City” it strives to be.