‘Ambitious’ plan ‘Housing Multnomah Now’ falls way short

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson admits her goal of housing 300 people by June 2023 was “ambitious.” While her team has pushed that deadline to this summer — and the program Housing Multnomah Now only housing 38 people to date — Pederson is comfortable with the initial efforts.

“I do think it was an ambitious goal, but I think that was exactly what the public was demanding,” Pederson told KOIN 6 News Tuesday.

Housing Multnomah Now is a pilot program designed to move unsheltered homeless people directly into housing.

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When she launched the geographically-focused tent-to-housing model a year ago and pledged to house 300 people camping near the Steel Bridge by this past summer, there was nearly $14 million backing the program.

“So we have been able to house 41 people that were at the very first geographic center, 38 of those through the Housing Multnomah Now program,” she said.

Pederson said nearly 30% of the people served had never experienced outreach. County officials also said some of those people also deal with addiction and mental or behavioral health concerns, which makes it more difficult to secure landlords.

Authorities told KOIN 6 News the lack of housing availability and provider capacity are 2 reasons the county shifted the goal to June 2024.

The year-long shift comes as homeless residents, such as Crystal, continue to say they are struggling to find housing.

“We are still fighting every day to try and get housing,” she said.

Another homeless resident, Phillip, agreed.

“I keep hearing all this stuff, ‘Oh they’re housing everybody up,’ but it’s like, well, when?” he said. “I’m on a housing list and I’ve been on (the) housing list for 2 years.”

But Pederson said Multnomah County is strengthening connections with the city and expanding access to the program to better serve people.

“We’ve been able to grow and expand and really pivot so that the person that you see, you know, who is in Old Town where maybe there’s just a couple of tents, they’re now going to get that outreach by Housing Multnomah Now,” Pederson said.

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