Rural Counties Benefit from HUD Allocation

Oregon rural counties to receive $1.5 million for homeless programs.

Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - Federal funds recently received by the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC) will help keep housing assistance and supportive services alive for homeless individuals and families in 23 Oregon counties.

"The renewed funding will allow these rural counties to continue to provide transitional and permanent housing for Oregon's most vulnerable population," said Rick Crager, deputy director of Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) award announcement Feb. 19.

The HUD Continuum of Care funding is specifically for the Supportive Housing Program (SHP), which helps provide transitional and permanent supportive housing for homeless persons.

Under the broader HUD Continuum of Care program, local communities and agencies must work together to provide prevention outreach, emergency shelter and supportive services for homeless individuals and families in addition to housing options.

OHCS works with a statewide ROCC steering committee to strategize ways to improve services to homeless individuals and families in the rural portions of the state. In partnership with local rural continuum of care communities, OHCS also coordinates the HUD application, where funds are awarded on a competitive basis.

"The SHP funding directs funding to populations facing the greatest need and improves the state's accountability," Crager said.

Counties slated to receive funds are:
• Benton/Linn/Lincoln – $252,590
• Columbia/Clatsop/Tillamook – $333,073
• Coos/Curry – $392,989
• Douglas/Josephine – $116,573
• Malheur – $41,820
• Umatilla/Morrow/Gilliam/Wheeler – $72,574
• Wallowa/Baker/Union/Grant – $56,658
• Wasco/Hood River/Sherman – $69,853
• Yamhill – $106,791
• Training and Technical Assistance – $32,081

In addition to funding rent subsidies, HUD awarded $34,992 to support ROCC's partnership with the Oregon Housing Opportunities in Partnership program to provide permanent housing solutions for persons living with HIV/AIDS.

The funds will support local responses to the problem of homelessness and will enable agencies to implement strategies identified in Gov. Ted Kulongoski's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness,

A Home for Hope, posted at www.ehac.oregon.gov. HUD SHP funding also requires agencies implementing the program to collect data and information to demonstrate the performance outcomes of the program.

OHCS provides training, technical assistance, and helps coordinate the work of these communities.

With the information collected, policymakers can direct limited state and federal resources to the activities that yield the best outcomes in preventing and ending homelessness.

In all, Oregon received about $20 million in HUD funding to address the problems of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing. In the midst of the state's budget shortfalls and the scarcity of local resources and contributions, this type of federal funding will provide some additional resources for agencies to lessen the toll of homelessness in Oregon's rural counties.

A full list of awards, including those to the metropolitan areas of the state, can be viewed on HUD's Web site at hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/budget/2008/index.cfm. Oregon Housing and Community Services is the state's housing finance agency and community services program administrator.

The department provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing serving Oregonians of lower and moderate income, and administers federal and state antipoverty, homeless, energy-assistance and community-service programs.

The OHCS mission is to: "Provide leadership that enables Oregonians to gain housing, become self-sufficient and achieve prosperity." Click on ohcs.oregon.gov.