It’s not surprising Portland saw a 10 percent increase in homelessness from 2016 to 2017.
The average one-bedroom apartment now rents for more than $1,100 a month, according to data from Multifamily NW.
That number has grown 20 times faster than the median income since 2015.
More than 18,000 people in Multnomah County rely on federal disability checks that top out at $735 a month, according to the 2017 Homeless Point-In-Time report. For minimum-wage workers, rent increases since 2005 have cost thousands of dollars in real income and made it more difficult to tend to other basic needs.
In 2016, there were 185,000 households in the Portland metro region eligible for affordable housing, according to the Metro Equitable Housing Study. But there are only about 30,000 affordable units in the same area.
The state of Oregon has proposed cutting millions of dollars in rent assistance. Additional federal housing cuts proposed under the Trump administration would result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars locally for both affordable housing and rent assistance.
Locally, however, investments are being made. Portland voters passed an affordable housing bond in November, which will fund the construction of more than a 1,000 units to support 3,000 individuals and families. Together, Portland and Multnomah County governments are investing nearly $50 million annually to support giving people access to housing in the region.
But proposed cuts mean these investments will go toward filling a deepening hole.
Street Roots continues to pressure local government to provide a more sustainable ongoing revenue tool to support giving people access to more housing, including rent assistance and mental health facilities.
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Highlights from the 2017 Homeless Point-In-Time Count:
Fewer without shelter: For the first time since 2005, when Multnomah County began counting people experiencing homelessness, more were counted in emergency shelter than sleeping on the streets. Unsheltered homelessness dropped 11.6 percent from 2015 to 2017.
Unsheltered with disabilities or chronic homelessness: People who report disabilities make up a larger share of this year’s unsheltered count (71.6%) in Multnomah County, and the percentage of unsheltered people considered chronically homeless in this year’s count (52.1%) also increased. People in these categories often struggle with health issues that complicate efforts to bring them into housing.
Racial disparities: People of color made up 40.5 percent of this year’s homeless count, up from 38.8 percent in 2015. By contrast, people of color make up 29 percent of Multnomah County’s population. (These data use HUD's definition of homelessness, which doesn't include people who are involuntarily doubled up or sleeping on couches, in garages or in overcrowded situations. This definition reduces the visibility of communities of color overall.)
Native Americans: Native Americans represented a substantial increase within the overall homeless population. The count rose from 82 in 2015 to 424 in 2017. (The 2015 count reported a low tally of Native Americans. This year's surge is likely a correction of an unexplained issue with the 2015 count, rather than an actual four-fold increase in the number of Native American people experiencing homelessness, according to the Point-In-Time report.)
About the count
The Point-In-Time count is a census of people sleeping in shelters, transitional housing or places not fit for habitation, conducted on a given night every two years. Starting next year, the local count will occur once a year. This year's local count occurred Feb. 22, with volunteers and workers asking people where they slept that night. Communities must conduct the count to remain eligible for federal housing grants.