Dear Washington County,



After a community process, the Department of Housing Services has completed its strategic framework that will guide our work moving forward to best serve our county’s residents. As a result, we’ve separated our mission and vision statement into two revamped stand-alone statements. We’ve also crafted an equity statement for the first time, all of which I’d like to share with you today.

First, we envision a Washington County where everyone has an affordable home with the supports and opportunities each of us needs to thrive. Our reworked mission statement then gets to the heart of our work: the Department of Housing Services creates pathways out of homelessness, promotes housing stability, and invests in affordable communities for Washington County and our residents. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, to achieve our vision, we advance racial equity and increase access for all who face barriers to housing. We address inequities in housing opportunity while prioritizing services to populations disproportionately impacted by these disparities.

While this work is crucial, it is the impact on people’s everyday lives that matters most. We’re making great strides, and our county is succeeding thanks to our collaboration with regional and federal partners. One of those partners is the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), whose team recently toured our buildings to highlight our important work. More on that below! 

Best,

Molly Rogers

Earlier this month, Washington County had the honor of hosting several representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): new Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy & Management, Peter Hunter, the HUD Northwest Regional Administrator, Andrew Lofton, our Oregon Field Office Director, Bryan Guiney, and other field staff. We were also joined by representatives from the City of Beaverton to share about their year-round shelter, which is nearing completion. Together, we spent the afternoon touring sites around Washington County that demonstrate the impact of local partnerships and cross-sector collaboration.

Stops on the tour included:

• Safe Rest Village at Aloha United Methodist Church, the third pod shelter location operated by Open Door.
• Heartwood Commons, the County’s first large-scale permanent supportive housing building with Sequoia as our service partner and resident services by Community Partners for Affordable Housing.
• Nueva Esperanza, an affordable housing development by the City of Hillsboro, Bienestar, and Housing Development Center that reminds us of the need for fewer limitations on vouchers.

At the end of the tour, Assistant Deputy Secretary Hunter commented that our region has, “Put its money where its mouth is” to tackle the affordable housing crisis head on. Washington County will continue to see progress by removing barriers to housing, continuing to braid funding sources, and having courageous and ongoing conversations at the federal and state level about the level of needed to make a meaningful difference in ending homelessness and housing instability.

Notice of Funding Opportunity for Permanent Supportive Housing

On July 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds funding competition. CoC Builds supports the creation of new units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) by providing capital funding for construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of PSH.

Washington County is eligible to compete for up to $5 million in CoC Builds funding for one project. The Department of Housing Services invites proposals for a local competition that will be used to select the CoC Builds project that our community will submit to HUD for the national competition.

See the Request for Proposals for more details about the funding opportunity and application process.

Kendra’s Foster Youth to Independence story; County awarded additional vouchers

Kendra was approved for the Foster to Youth Independence (FYI) rental assistance program in late 2022. One of her goals was to find a good job and perhaps go to college. Recently, we were able to help Kendra apply for a paid internship through the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization to work with people experiencing homelessness in our community. During a routine check in, Kendra had expressed that she often stops and speaks to homeless people she meets and has a heart to help them.

With her perseverance and dedication, Kendra was accepted to the internship program! She’s been absolutely loving the work and may be offered employment when the internship ends. Since engaging in the internship, Kendra has changed her career goals and now envisions herself working with foster and at-risk youth. With as many as 20,000 youth aging out of foster care each year nationwide, and up to 46% of these youth experiencing homelessness, we need more people like Kendra.

In July, HUD announced that the Housing Authority of Washington County would be awarded an additional 13 FYI vouchers. The program has grown significantly, from starting with a single FYI participant in 2019. Today, we have 28 young participants and a utilization rate over 90% (well above the national average of 43%). We’re excited to continue expanding the program with the new award and look forward to sharing more success stories like Kendra’s! 

Another year of a successful Camp Rosenbaum for our county’s kids

The Housing Authority of Washington County shared the excitement this year and sponsored 19 kids from our communities to attend Camp Rosenbaum! We even had one of our very own staff members, Chelsea Blair, volunteer as a counselor to support this important opportunity for our youth kids.

Camp Rosenbaum is a non-profit organization that provides summer activities to low-income children, and for more than 50 years they’ve hosted a one-week overnight camp at the Oregon Coast for children who receive services from housing authorities. Most of the kids who attend Camp Rosenbaum have never been to an overnight camp before, and there are many other “firsts” – riding horses, visiting the beach, and a campfire sing along are just a few of the week’s activities.

Eleven-year-old camper Jaspyr told us that, "Camp was so much fun that I didn't even miss electronics. I wish I could go every year. My favorite part was riding horses." Thanks to Camp Rosenbaum, for helping our kids have a great summer!