Buoyed by Lane County, Oregon is on track to meet Gov. Tina Kotek’s January goal of moving 650 formerly homeless people into permanent housing before the state’s latest homelessness emergency declaration expires in January.
But data compiled by Oregon Housing and Community Services show the state is far behind on Kotek’s second goal of preventing 11,856 Oregon households living on the brink from slipping into homelessness. Just 2,853 households have been kept in their homes through aid such as rent or utility assistance.
“This is not a victory lap,” Kotek said during a press conference Thursday. “This is not a mission accomplished moment. This is a progress report.”
Oregon’s homelessness crisis has been a top point of concern for Kotek and legislative leaders. More than 20,000 Oregonians were homeless on a single night in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest point in time count, and most of them sleep outside or in cars.
Lawmakers allocated $1.2 billion toward the crisis in 2023 and another $112 million in 2024. With that money, Kotek’s office estimates that by the end of the two-year budget cycle in 2025, the state will have maintained 2,400 shelter beds, added 1,700 new beds, rehoused 2,700 households, prevented 24,000 people from becoming homeless and built 2,800 affordable homes.