Constructing a Brighter Future: Wheylin Niehus

Transitional and forever homes are in the making at local Eugene Schools. Wheylin Niehus is a teacher at North Eugene High School and is a part of the Constructing a Brighter Future Project. The CBF is a collaborative project between the schools in Eugene where students help build transitional homes for the unhoused population. The homes get sent to SquareOne Village, a tiny home village.

Before he started teaching, he was a professional contractor. He has been a teacher for four years but this is his first year involved with the Eugene 4J district. This is also the first year he is participating in the CBF along with their first house being built. Niehus said that learning with the students and watching them grow, for him, is the best part. “It gives me a sense of pride, I’m doing something that is helping,” Niehus said. He hopes that the students participating will gain valuable life skills and will be able to continue to practice safety in any aspect or job they encounter.

Eugene has the highest homeless rate in all America. Oftentimes, homeless people prefer the streets over shelters. Shelters can carry infectious diseases and they have no personal space. Niehus said this project makes him more aware and interested in whats going on with the increasing homelessness rate. It is easy to try and block it out since it is such a challenging thing to solve. Building these homes are getting them off the streets and out of the shelters. “It is something important and it’s not going away, you can’t just pretend it’s not there,” Niehus said.

“You would see so many people that were so thankful to be out of their cars or tents,” said Alicia Ginsburg, the project coordinator at SquareOne Village. “They appreciate the second chance and people believing in them and knowing that they were worthy of nice housing and being a part of a community.” Niehus hopes to continue to expand this project in the future. His goals are to get the project it’s own space since they are currently guests at LCC.