PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After withholding millions of dollars to Multnomah and Clackamas counties on April 10, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Friday that funding for the Homelessness State of Emergency has been approved, officials say.
According to the governor’s office, six of the seven regional groups have finalized contracts to “prevent nearly 9,000 people from becoming homeless, rehouse more than 1,200 households and create over 600 new shelter beds in emergency areas by end of the year.”
The final region, Clackamas County, is expected to receive final approval next week.
When she took office in January, Kotek declared a Homeless State of Emergency. Lawmakers quickly approved hundreds of millions of dollars to help get people into permanent housing.
However, Kotek held out on handing over the money, saying the regions had not done a good enough job explaining where the state money would go.
The approval is expected to fulfill Kotek’s goal to shelter and prevent homelessness and boost housing production — including for middle-income earners.
“The housing crisis demands urgent action on an unprecedented timeline. I am grateful to the providers, local and county leaders who quickly assembled to form the [multi-agency coordination groups], the legislature for passing the package early with bipartisan support and broad stakeholder input, and to communities across Oregon embracing this call to action,” Kotek said. “I look forward to the work ahead to help ensure these investments yield visible, measurable results across our state by the end of the year.”