The Mens Shelter has discontinued overnight service for the 2019-2020 season as of March 19, 2020 and has shifted its schedule and offerings to meet the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic. Overnight operations in some form are being planned for the fall and updates will be posted to the Unity Shelter website. The Mens Shelter now operates daily as a Hygiene Center providing showers, laundry, drinks and hot meals to homeless men and women. Operations are currently funded through June 30, and may continue as need and resources allow.
Hours of Operation as of May 27, 2020
- Monday – Friday 1:00 – 6:30 pm
- Saturday 1:00 – 6:00 pm
- Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Meal Times as of May 27, 2020
- Hot Lunch: Wednesday & Friday 11:30 am -12:30 pm
- Hot Dinner: Monday & Thursday 5:30-6:30 pm
Porta-johns and hand washing stations are available 24/7. Light snacks are available on a grab-and-go basis. To minimize community contact, Shelter staff are currently providing services, and are evaluating how to safely involve volunteers in future Shelter operations. Volunteers are needed at partner agencies including: Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center, Stone Soup, Room at the Inn Women’s Shelter, and Corvallis Housing First (SORT team). Through the generous support of partners like Linn-Benton Food Share and Stone Soup, food needs are well met at the Shelter, but donations of funds to support operations are appreciated. Please continue to follow developments on The Mens Shelter Facebook page and take time to see what efforts are underway to safeguard our neighbors experiencing homelessnes and the good people that serve their needs. Click here to download PDF guidelines for donating meals.
SafePlace and Safe Camp continue to operate albeit with additional social distancing requirements. The heightened need for safe places where individuals can exercise self-quarantining and social distancing has accelerated the issuance of city permits to use microshelters at multiple church locations.
COVID-19 Status & Online Information
Room at the Inn offers 24/7 emergency overnight shelter for women during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our homeless neighbors in Corvallis have very few places to be during the day, with the shut down of most businesses. Since we are open 24/7 guests have the opportunity to “stay home and stay safe.” We have changed many of our procedures in an attempt to minimize folks touching the same objects and to provide the proper spacing between beds, etc.
- We've separated all bunks and moved 8 into the gym. This gives us 6 feet between all beds. Those who go to bed early stay in the "sleeping room" and late to bed folks can sleep in the gym.
- We provide three meals a day to all guests, and have a great kitchen staff including a trained chef!
- Guests are strongly encouraged to look at the shelter as their home, and to stay in as much as possible. To assist them in making this best choice for health safety, we have lots of activities and things for them busy and engaged in doing something positive.
- Guests can also do their laundry once a week.
- New guests are welcome, but must wear a mask for the first week that they are in the shelter.
- We monitor our guests’ health with daily temperature checks and also go through a symptom check list with each guest each day.
- We are working with Safe Place in the support of four micro-shelters that sit on church property near the shelter entrance. We also provide them with meals, showers, activities and the opportunity to do their laundry.
Room at the Inn is working hard to stay abreast of the CDC, state, and county guidelines for shelters. We are the safest place to be for women experiencing homelessness in Corvallis.
For more information on how we are operating during the pandemic, see our updates page. Also check out our volunteer page if you want to help out in that way.
***** COVID Vaccines available to those experiencing homelessness March 29, 2021 *****
(click here for PDF of OHA Vaccine Sequencing Chart)
Unity Shelter is following the recommended COVID-19 response guidelines established at the county, state and federal levels. The above links will take you to their respective published recommendations, restrictions, guidelines and resources to help you navigate this unprecedented pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a perfect storm for our friends who have nowhere to go in order to self-quarantine. These friends are often together in their effort to survive the elements. Further, some have underlying health conditions, which put them at even greater risk if they were to contract the virus.
It is Unity Shelter's desire to help this high risk group find a safe place to stay, maintain personal hygeine and have access to food/meals. The COVID-19 restrictions have complicated our efforts and our volunteers have been tirelessly working to find creative solutions. Here are updates for each of the programs: