A growing shortage of affordable housing has forced many Portlanders to live outside. To ensure we are successful in our goal to ensure everyone has access to a safe, affordable place to call home, we must prioritize pathways to housing for our neighbors.
In 2024, only one in five people exiting Portland’s shelter system moved into permanent housing. These numbers reflect a system that’s failing to deliver what is promised — moving people into more stable housing. If we keep growing shelter beds without pairing them with pathways to housing people will continue to be stuck in shelters.
When shelter is paired with housing resources, such as case management, rent assistance, and other supportive services, community-based organizations can successfully support people in their transition from shelter into stable housing. Welcome Home member and shelter provider, Path Home, focuses on pathways to housing, ensuring shelter is a temporary stop on the way to housing. We can free up existing shelter beds for people living outside by urgently connecting households with housing resources.
In 2024, 84% of families that accessed Path Home’s shelter moved into stable housing thanks to the organization’s commitment to the services that move households out of shelter and into stable housing. Unfortunately, this is not they shelter to housing pipeline that our Portland and Multnomah County are investing in. Both jurisdictions’ budgets mirror the Trump Administration’s proposed budget: expanding shelter funding while cutting rent assistance and support services that allow people to move out of shelter and into homes. Let’s make sure our region doesn’t miss a chance to advance our shared goal to ensure housing is a human right.
As a community member committed to addressing growing homelessness, we hope you join us in asking our leaders to choose what works.