Salem, OR – Today, Governor Tina Kotek announced progress on benchmarks for her homelessness emergency response led by local planning groups in rural Oregon, referred to as the Balance of State (Rural Oregon Continuum of Care). Rural communities, the Governor’s Office, and Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) worked successfully together to exceed the goals set in the Governor’s Emergency Homelessness Response.

“This is a testament to the change our local leaders can make in their neighbors’ lives when they have the resources, collaboration, and flexibility they need,” Governor Kotek said. “It’s a strong start, but the urgency remains, and we need to see this strategy through. If we remain unrelenting in our goals, we can achieve a healthier, safer, more prosperous Oregon, where everyone has a place to call home.”

“The value and vibrancy of leaders in rural Oregon is part of our state’s past, present and future,” OHCS Director Andrea Bell said. “Investments in housing progress that are locally led and community driven symbolizes the state’s commitment to support and empower communities to continue unleashing their extraordinary potential. OHCS is grateful for Governor Kotek’s leadership in driving an intentional and ambitious course of action to make lives better and more affordable for the people of Oregon.”

“Across Oregon, the housing affordability crisis has made it difficult for struggling families to remain in their homes. Many Oregonians are working hard and raising their families but remain burdened by the rapidly increasing costs of rent and other basic necessities,” Jimmy Jones, Executive Director of Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action said. “The Governor’s emergency order, and the funds provided by the Legislature, marked the most significant housing and homeless investment in Oregon’s history. Hitting the Governor’s housing and sheltering targets is the first step in returning Oregon families to a more stable footing. We are a proud partner in these efforts, housing and sheltering thousands of vulnerable Oregonians over the past two years and preventing thousands of evictions from adding to Oregon’s homeless crisis.”

"Battling unsheltered homelessness in the 26 counties that make up Oregon’s Rural Oregon Continuum of Care is a uniquely challenging undertaking, but one that our local agencies tackle wholeheartedly,” Brooke Matthews, the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care Program Manager, said. “It is through the dedication, resourcefulness, and creativity of more than 450 partner agencies that the Balance of State was able to far exceed their goals."

The Governor has taken consistent action to address homelessness in Oregon. On her very first day in office, she declared a statewide homelessness emergency and called on the Legislature to take immediate action to fund her emergency order. Recognizing that rural Oregon communities were uniquely impacted by a lack of shelter infrastructure and housing supply, the resulting funding package (HB 5019) gave initial funding for rural regions to reduce and prevent homelessness in rural Oregon.

Despite the progress, homelessness remains a crisis in Oregon. The Governor has introduced House Bill 3644, which seeks to sustain the shelter infrastructure Oregon communities have built and the progress they have made. The bill creates a permanent statewide shelter program that appropriates $218 million to reduce unsheltered homelessness and transition people from homelessness into housing stability even after the state of emergency has ended.