Dear Washington County,



Summer is here, and in June, we get to celebrate Pride Month and commemorate Juneteenth. We are reminded again how much stable housing means to so many communities, especially when we see disproportionally high rates of homelessness in our LGBTQ+ and Black residents, particularly for youth. Our work is making an impact and has caught the eye of our national partners. Representative Suzanne Bonamici stopped in for a tour of The Opal, an LGBTQ+ friendly senior affordable housing in Cedar Mill, and joined staff for a roundtable about our Project Turnkey shelters (see below). We also are continuing to expand programs like the Foster Youth Independence Initiative, key to lowering rates of homelessness for some of our community's most vulnerable residents.

This month our Board adopted our 2024-25 budget, and we’re excited to move forward with the best services for our residents. You can find the budget for the Department of Housing Services and the Housing Authority of Washington County here. In the last five years the department has seen significant initiatives and changes. We’ve more than doubled our employee count, moved to a new building that we’ve already outgrown, and have welcomed an entirely new executive team. We worked on our first budget together that is unprecedented for us – over $300 million the next fiscal year. We did this work while also trying to foster a shift in organizational culture focused on collaboration, transparency, and empowerment. The theme for this year’s budget was “stabilization.” We still have plenty of work and initiatives to tackle this year, but we’re also taking the time to build out and ensure that our foundation is solid and sustainable.

Lastly, I wanted to recognize that June is also National Homeownership Month. With homeownership out of reach for so many, especially people of color, young people, and people with low incomes who face financial barriers, we’re determined to empower people to purchase a home of their own one day.

Best,

Molly Rogers

Thanks again to the Metro Affordable Housing Bond, another 81 families have a place to call home. On June 13 local leaders State Sen. Wlnsvey Campos and Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington joined Cedar Rising’s ribbon cutting, the second bond-funded community to provide affordable housing in Aloha. Located just a block from TV Highway, Cedar Rising also serves 33 extremely low-income households.

Aimed at housing families with its two- and three- bedroom apartments, playground, and other amenities, Cedar Rising was developed by regional non-profit BRIDGE Housing. Our local non-profit partner, Hacienda CDC, is also providing on-site services to empower residents, especially from the historically underserved Latine and Asian communities that make up a third of Aloha’s population.

This was the third bond-project in our county to have its grand opening in 2024, and we expect to see two more new developments up and running before the end of this year. We are also on course to exceed our original bond goal of 814 affordable homes by 144! That's 18% more homes that will be built to provide much-needed relief to our county’s renters.

For more information on Cedar Rising’s opening, check out this featured article in The Beaverton ValleyTimes. If you are interested in making Cedar Rising your new home, please visit their website.

U.S. Rep. Bonamici holds roundtable with Project Turnkey leaders 

On June 6 Rep. Suzanne Bonamici invited leaders from three Project Turnkey shelters in Washington County to share their experience with the hotel conversion projects: Centro Cultural’s Casa Amparo in Forest Grove, Greater Good Northwest’s Hillsboro Bridge Shelter, and Family Promise of Tualatin Valley’s Bridge to Home in Tigard. Combined with Heartwood Commons our county has converted four former motels into more than 150 shelter beds and 50 permanent supportive housing apartments in less than three years!

During the roundtable, Rep. Bonamici heard from non-profit shelter operators and community leaders, including Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington and Department of Housing Services Assistant Director Jes Larson. Feedback illustrated the challenges that come with trying to create these new shelters, such as zoning difficulties and retrofitting issues, while also highlighting the positive impacts.

Project Turnkey, which launched in 2022, has been effective at turning underutilized motels into shelters. After seeing the immediate impact of increased shelter capacity here in our county and across the state, Rep. Bonamici introduced the Project Turnkey Act in May to allocate $1 billion to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to acquire buildings and services for residents.

For more on this story check out this news piece by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

David’s story: Stable housing saved his life

David moved into his apartment in the Spring of 2022 and was one of the first people housed with the Regional Long-term Rent Assistance voucher funded with the Supportive Housing Services measure. Two years later, David shared his story, more grateful than ever for the people who rallied to help him get back on his feet again.

“I had worked all my life. I was a mechanic for 25 years and never expected to be in this position.” David explained. But then he fell gravely ill due to a series of blood clots and heart attacks, after which he ended up in the hospital under a coma for two months. When he woke up, he was unable to walk and had lost nearly 100 pounds. At the same time, David lost his home in a trailer park where he couldn’t keep up with the rising rent and ended up homeless.

David found his way to Easterseals where he began working with a case manager to help him find housing again. With their assistance and a housing voucher in hand, he moved into his own apartment two years ago, giving him the time and space to recover.

“I got a dry place that is all my own and I don’t have to worry about people stealing my stuff or my medicine,” David explains.

“David looks like a different person”, his case manager, Keith, says. That stability has paid dividends in his health, and recently David purchased a new automated wheelchair and ramp that have been gamechangers for his mobility.

“Don’t give up,” David offers for other people who are still living outside and struggling. He hopes more people can connect with the life-saving support of housing case managers. 

Portland hosts public housing authorities summer conference

This month, Assistant Director Jes Larson joined other housing leaders at this year’s Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) summer conference to discuss the successes, expansion and improvement of our regional permanent supportive housing system. Panel members discussed how the introduction of the Supportive Housing Services measure provided an opportunity to create cohesion across systems and address a variety of overlapping needs including housing, behavioral health and addiction recovery services.

Permanent supportive housing combines physical homes, rent assistance and wrap-around services to ensure stability for households with extra barriers. Even with the successes, speakers emphasized that there is still more to be done, finding creative ways to meet gaps in the system or alternatives for people who need a different way to stabilize.

While state and national trends show upticks in homelessness, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Washington County is trending downward, declining over 35% among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. “People get better in housing because permanent supportive housing works – it really does,” shared Larson.