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Housing Services Newsletter

April 6, 2022 | HousingServices@co.washington.or.us
We are hosting a three-day Housing Access event from April 19 to 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Washington Street Conference Center (102 SW Washington St, Hillsboro) to connect people experiencing homelessness with housing. Thanks in advance to our Rapid Rehousing and Housing Case Management partners who are helping us to host this event. Please encourage anyone you know experiencing homelessness to attend and feel free to share this printable Spanish/English flyer about the event.

If you are interested in volunteering to support the event by acting as a greeter, providing coat check, serving lunch, supporting participants, or venue setup/breakdown please click here to sign up!

We are also requesting donations to create "Welcome Home kits." Welcome home kits will be given to people transitioning out of homelessness, many of whom will attend this event, when they move into their new apartments and neighborhoods. These kits will set new tenants up with the supplies they need to get started and create a new home. Please bring new items from this list to the Washington Street Conference Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers will later assemble the supplies into Welcome Home kits ready for folks when they move into their new apartments.

If you have questions about the event or these volunteer activities, please email us here.
Winter Shelter program extends critical services to help participants access permanent housing

Washington County is extending the Emergency Winter Shelter program into spring to provide 239 beds for families, medically fragile individuals, and adults experiencing homelessness through a combination of congregate, share space shelter settings and hotel vouchers.

The Washington County Emergency Winter Shelter program is a life-saving program that provides shelter for the most vulnerable members of our community during the harsh winter months historically from November 15, 2021, to March 15, 2022. Since opening in November 2021, the program has expanded capacity from 187 beds to 239 beds.

Guests of the emergency winter shelter program will continue to be connected to available housing resources including housing case managers and rent assistance to move people through shelters to stable housing as quickly as possible. Extension of critical shelter services as Washington County continues to explore adding year-round shelter capacity is critical to giving shelter guests additional time to transition into permanent housing.

Two shelter guests offered their experiences using the winter shelter system recently.

Douglas (pictured filling out survey on future shelter needs) is currently a guest of the Beaverton winter shelter location. At the shelter he has received resources around applying for disability assistance and support joining waitlists to make the transition into permanent, affordable housing with a housing voucher. He says, “We need housing for everyone.” After living unsheltered for about a year just having a safe place to sleep is “everything.”

Douglas is already thinking about ways to pay it forward. He shares, “I volunteer at the food bank and collect extra socks for local high schools to redistribute. I want to help.”

Another winter shelter guest was willing to share his perspective on the importance of having these shelter programs available. He explains, “I’ve been on a waiting list for an apartment with sobriety services for eight months. I just found out I am at the top of the waitlist, but I still have to wait on paperwork. I’ve seen other people here get housing quickly. Waiting is hard, but it’s almost my turn.” Without a shelter in the intermediary period, he explains, “I would just be looking for a safe place to exist.”

Thanks to the extension of the Beaverton winter shelter program to May 31, Douglas has more time to make the transition into permanent, affordable housing and can continue to work with case managers from Just Compassion, the shelter operator.
The Washington County Department of Housing Services was formed in 1992 to administer housing activities and programs of the county and the Washington County Housing Authority. The mission of the Department of Housing Services is to provide a continuum of affordable housing options that promotes community strength. The department offers rental assistance to low-income households through various federally funded programs, creates affordable housing opportunities in the community for low- and moderate-income households through a combination of creative financing and partnerships with public and private entities and administers programs to address homelessness including A Road Home: Washington County’s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness and the new Supportive Housing Services program. 
WASHINGTON COUNTY, OR | co.washington.or.us/Housing