Our Vision
A world where everyone lives with dignity in a stable, inclusive, and eco-friendly place to call home.
Our Mission
Creating democratic communities with homes that are permanently affordable and environmentally sustainable.
Guiding Values
Bridging the Gap
It's our belief that everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home. SquareOne seeks to bridge the often insurmountable gap between the street and conventional housing with a variety of stable, dignified, and cost-effective shelter and housing options.
Permanent Affordability
Land and housing are more than just financial assets for accumulating wealth. SquareOne embodies a community land trust model, restricting the sale of land in order to preserve the long-term affordability and stability of our housing for generations to come.
Democratic Communities
SquareOne goes beyond building individual dwellings. We build democratic communities, such as housing co-ops, in which each person has a voice in shaping how their community is operated and managed. This creates a foundational sense of ownership and control on which the village model thrives.
Sustainable Homes
The American home has more than doubled in size since 1950, even as fewer people are living in them. SquareOne returns to simple, compact homes supported by a variety of common resources. In doing so, we believe we can not only address the housing gap, but also embody a vision for a more sustainable future.
Collaborative Initiatives
Our approach is committed to engaging our residents and the surrounding community in the process; thus SquareOne not only builds affordable housing, we build equity through diverse community collaborations in Lane County, Oregon. We also collaborate with partners and affiliates to support the implementation of our village model in other communities.
Equity Vision
We envision a society where everyone is housed. We envision our villages as places where people from all backgrounds and abilities are welcomed, included, and valued. We envision our villages as culturally responsive and relevant, in which diverse peoples want to live and can see themselves thriving.
We choose to be an anti-racist organization. We envision SquareOne as an organization in which diversity, equity and inclusion are integrated into our discussions, our planning, and our policies and procedures—in every aspect of our organizational culture and infrastructure.
Featured Videos
Staff
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Dan Bryant
PROJECT DIRECTOR | Andrew Heben
PROGRAM DIRECTOR | Jeff Albanese
COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR | Amanda Dellinger
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR | Mary Bell
GRANTS MANAGER | Susan Schroeder
BOOKKEEPER | Shyla Pfaff
LEAD CARPENTER | Gabe Casteel
ASSISTANT CARPENTER | Dylan Towner
CO-OP COORDINATOR | Raquel Diaz
CO-OP COORDINATOR | Beth Martin
SHELTER COORDINATOR | Ian McBride
HOUSING NAVIGATOR | Nadine Adams
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT | Isaac Judd
Principal Broker/Owner, Hearthstone Real Estate
PAST-PRESIDENT | Kitty Piercy
Former Mayor, City of Eugene
VICE PRESIDENT | Minalee Saks
Founder emerita, Parenting Now! (formerly Birth to Three)
SECRETARY | Sharon Schuman
Retired English Professor, UO Honors College
TREASURER | CAROLYN STEIN
Executive Director, BRING
Terra Belle
Community member; Emerald Village Co-op Member
Aislinn Blackstone
Floriculturist/photographer; Cottage Village Co-op President
Bobby Durham
Community member; Cottage Village Co-op Vice President
Jenny Jonak
Founder & Principal, Jonak Law Group
Wesley Lucas
Community member
Robert Melnick
Former Dean, UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts
Thuy Nguyen
Owner/Operator, Bean Sprout Illustrations Art Design Company
IN THE NEWS
An excerpt from Tent City Urbanism
describing the founding of
SquareOneVillages:
"By now, the Occupy movement has been all but forgotten by most. But in Eugene, Oregon, the protest sparked an inadvertent undertaking in the form of a self-managed, transitional housing community, known as Opportunity Village. The earliest roots of the village can be traced to..."
