OCCUPY EUGENE HAS BEEN A
HAVEN FOR THE HOMELESS
Homeless Activism
OCCUPY EUGENE SEEKS A LONGER STAY
WOR DS BY CAM IL L A M O RTENS EN • PHOTO GRAPHS BY RO B SY DO R
T
he man who goes by the name Diesel used to
sleep under the I-105 overpass at Washington-
Jefferson Park. Now that spot is taken up by the
Occupy Eugene kitchen. It’s tempting to call it
makeshift, created as it is out of storage containers
and pallets, but the kitchen is sturdy and clean,
and John McCahill (aka Big John), who runs it, says almost
everyone in the kitchen is a certifi ed food handler.
Technically Diesel is still homeless, but instead
of sleeping outside on his own, he serves as the night
watchman in the kitchen, a far warmer and drier place to
sleep. He works there during the day, helping to provide
Occupiers and the homeless with nourishment.
“Some of these people haven’t eaten off dishes in so long
they just hold out their hand for a scoop of food,” McCahill
says. He says he’s worried about what will happen to Diesel
and others like him if the city votes on Dec. 12 to end the
Occupy camp in Washington-Jefferson Park.
Occupy organizer and doctoral student in sociology Jamil
Jonna says it is the unique way activists and the homeless
have come together to create a workable model that makes
Occupy Eugene an experiment that should continue beyond
the current Dec. 15 expiration date.
Before the Occupy movement, McCahill was never an
activist, but Occupy, he says, is different. “It’s not just one
idea,” he says. “This is my idea; this is his idea.”
While Occupy Wall Street originally coalesced with a
focus on corporate greed, the movement has come to mean
different things in different locations, says Esteban, a fellow
Occupier who is the contact for OE’s Education Alliance
Committee. “For every city it has a different purpose,” he
16 DECEMBER 8, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
says. “Eugene is not the center of corporate oppression, but
there are sure severe issues here, including homelessness.”
He adds that the Occupy movement “has brought the
most drastic social inequalities in Eugene to the forefront.”
According to Jonna, almost 2,000 people have signed a
petition in favor of extending the camp.
Opponents accuse the camp of costing the city money. A
recent story in The Register-Guard says, “Through Nov. 29,
the city had spent an estimated $115,804, offi cials said. Most
of that — $72,731 — has gone to pay police offi cers to work
overtime during Occupy Eugene’s marches and protests.”
But Jonna says, “We at Occupy can’t control the number
of people who show up to the protests. For them to push all
the costs back to the camp is inaccurate.”
The Occupy activists say the camp has helped the
homeless and taken some of the stress off others who
provide services to those in need. An email to Occupy
“BIG JOHN” MCCAHILL (RIGHT) AND
DIESEL IN THE OCCUPY KITCHEN
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM