There are solutions to our region’s shortage of affordable housing, and we can take bold, urgent actions to implement them today. Partnerships across government, the private secto,r and local nonprofits are essential to creating housing options that meet the needs of our whole community. Last month, the City of Portland supported two non-profit organizations and Multnomah County’s Public Housing Authority, Home Forward, to purchase market-rate apartment buildings and immediately convert them into rent-reduced housing.
This means one-bedroom units will be available by the end of summer at an estimated $600/month less than they had been previously listed. These three buildings were originally built for private market housing, but owners of high-priced apartment buildings have been challenged to find renters who can afford $ 2,500-$4,300 a month. This has left some property owners ready to sell at a deep discount. We are excited to see that the City of Portland seized this opportunity to purchase apartment buildings with local tax revenue for an estimated quarter of the cost of traditional construction. Housing options at these lower price ranges are not naturally produced in the private sector.
Learn More About How Portland is Investing in Housing Options
We need our leaders to invest in the solutions that can meet the real needs of renters in our region. Out-of-control rent increases over the past five years have left households living on lower incomes in immediate need of reduced rent apartments and rent assistance. Our compassion for people living outside cannot end at overnight shelters. We can make bold moves to invest in long-term housing options in neighborhoods across our region. No matter the quality, a shelter bed, especially one with strict stay limits, is not a home. With some of the highest levels of deaths for people experiencing homelessness on the West Coast, our response strategy is failing, and we must pivot away from over-dependency on shelters.
Learn More About the Consequences of Our Local Strategy
In Multnomah County, only 1 in 5 people are exiting shelter into housing. Yet, there are a handful of shelters that are living up to their promises and are successfully moving households from homelessness back into stable housing. These shelters all have a few core strategies in common. Four Welcome Home Members that provide emergency shelter- Raphael House, Path Home, Family Promise of Tualatin Valley and NW Housing Alternatives have been able to move over 80% of households from shelter into stable housing. However, their success rates depend on funding for rent assistance, peer support, and case management.
Learn About Successful Shelter Principles
Ultimately, all four of the shelter programs remain deeply committed to the same end goal – to move households into stable housing from the moment they connect with the organization. With broad cuts to rent assistance approved by the federal government, our state, county, and largest metro city, our region, is in grave danger of our homeless crisis worsening. We will continue to demand that local tax dollars are invested in what we know works: helping people find and keep a place to call home.