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entinel
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Number 7 • 135 years
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Homeless survive ice storm despite all odds By CINDY WEELDREYER Sentinel Community Reporter
Jacob Cook has been homeless for nearly two years. He and his dog Jericho live at the 12th Street camp. The two survived the bitter cold by burrowing inside a sleeping bag with extra blankets and sharing body heat. Cook, 30, is a 2012 Cottage Grove High School graduate where he played in the jazz band and on the varsity soccer team. While trying to stay warm his tent caught on fire. “When you’re in a tent you’re used to being cold,” Cook said. “I’m a musician and do not have a family so I choose to be homeless right now.” North Douglas Avenue camp resident Lonnie Marsh is 69-years-old and has lived in the Cottage Grove area for nearly 30 years. Even though ice collapsed some tents in the camp and a large chunk fell on his tent and made a hole in it, Marsh said the camp community has pulled together, helping one another make due under dire circumstances. “It’s been an all for one kind of thing,” the former U.S. Marine said. “We all help each other out. It’s been challenging, but we’ll get through it.” A childhood injury made learning in school difficult and he dropped out without graduating. At 17, he joined the Marine Corps and was a tank driver in the early 1970s. A self-proclaimed “Jack of All Trades and Master of None” because he has
worked a wide variety of jobs in his lifetime: logging, construction, roofing, gold mining, auto mechanic, gas station attendant and, most recently, at a local car wash before he was laid off. Throat cancer and heart problems limit his ability to earn enough money to afford a place of his own in this season of his life. As a heavy lifelong smoker, he developed throat cancer that took away his voice box so he can only talk with an electrolarynx device. “I only make $403 a month from my retirement and get $15 a month in SSI because they think I live with my family in Oakland (OR). I don’t because I don’t make enough money to support them,” Marsh said. “I really want a job so I can get a better place to live.” Both men credit the support and camaraderie of their camp neighbors who shared what they had amongst themselves and the Red Cross Shelter at the Community Center for helping them survive the ice storm. Cottage Grove Community Center Coordinator Teresa Cowan and her assistant, Jessica Klarr, worked many long hours during the recent ice storm. They coordinated resources to assist housed and un-housed individuals stay safe and warm during the weather emergency that paralyzed the city for several days. Initially, the warming center was established at City Hall until the Red Cross set up a shelter in the Community Center
Rodney Harwood/The Sentinel North Douglas Avenue camp resident Lonnie Marsh said the camp community has pulled together, helping one another make do under dire circumstances. on Jan 19. Both locations offered electricity for charging phones and medical devices, clothing, jackets, shoes, blankets, tents, food and beverages. Staff relocated the shower trailer from Community Sharing to the Red Cross shelter, which closed on Jan. 29. Klarr said she heard reports of dire situations in the designated camps. “I listened to stories from un-housed folks describing how their tents were destroyed by falling ice and tree limbs with all their belongings inside,” Klarr said. “One un-housed person told me he and others had
to abandon their tents and belonging to access a safe place from falling limbs and ice. An un-housed person who sleeps in his car had a tree fall on his vehicle.” Cowan said, “We had many volunteers, city staff and elected officials, local and county agencies and nonprofit organizations providing essential services to those in need. It was heartwarming to see how our community came together to take care of each other and weather the storm.” Temperatures remained See ODDS page 2A
Cindy Weeldreyer/The Sentinel Jacob Cook has been homeless for nearly two years. He and his dog Jericho live at the 12th Street camp.
Councilor Merryday works to create hope By RODNEY HARWOOD
Sentinel Editor
TODAY’S EDITION
In some ways, it was one of those Truth or Dare moments, like when a kid says to another, “I double-dog dare ya.” Ward 3 Cottage Grove City Councilor Dana Merryday sat in a local restaurant responding to questions between forkfuls of the salad he was working on, dressed in a familiar green University of Oregon sweatshirt. wearing bright yellow sweat pants and work boots. The hat he was wearing read: “Create Hope in the World,” which is more of a personal philosophy than an advertisement. The 5th generation
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Floridian, who was born in the same small town as his great great-grandparents, smiled at the thought. “I’m scheduled to give a talk at a service club in Eugene. I’m thinking about going dressed like this, without announcing who I am, just to see if they let me in,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, an expression somewhat obstructed by a full-length beard neatly braided down the middle. Merryday has always been a bit of a renegade since participating in a college philosophy class project called Urban Survival, where students were given $30 and tasked with surviving for three weeks in an urban street environment. Even though it was staying
in a cheap hotel room at the Salvation Army, he journaled and documented that experience, which proved to be quite enlightening, he said. He took that experience one step further in his research last summer in the Cottage Grove designated camping areas at the 12th Street and North Douglas camps. Merryday spent a month-and-a-half, 12 nights total, staying overnight, alternating between camp sites to gain a better understanding of homelessness situation in town. “On one of my first visits to the camps, after they learned I was on the council, one resident challenged, See HOPE page 2A
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Rodney Harwood/The Sentinel Ward 3 Cottage Grove City Councilor Dana Merryday spent a week-and-ahalf, 12 nights total, staying overnight, alternating between camp sites to gain a better understanding of homelessness situation in town.
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