Kotek releases homeless aid to Portland and Multnomah County
Published 11:46 am Thursday, April 20, 2023
- Candidate Tina Kotek as she outlined her plans for dealing with homelessness at a news conference Oct. 17 in Marion Square Park in Salem. Gov. Kotek, three months to the day of her Jan. 10 executive order declaring a state of emergency, announced $80 million in allocations of state aid to the 10 counties most affected. Behind her is Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis.
Gov. Tina Kotek agreed to release $18.2 million after Multnomah County, Portland and Gresham submitted a revised plan to aid people who are unhoused and rehouse them rapidly.
She made the announcement Monday, April 17, one week after she released a total of about $80 million for the 10 Oregon counties with the most homeless people, according to the 2022 point-in-time count. But she said the amount for Oregon’s largest county and city was “tentatively allocated” until local officials came up with more specifics about how they would spend the money.
They submitted a revised plan Thursday, specifying that 140 shelter beds would be funded at the Gideon temporary alternative shelter site in Southeast Portland. Kotek had told reporters in her April 10 announcement that the initial plan they submitted lacked specifics about where the beds would be and other operational details.
Kotek said in her latest statement:
“I appreciate the county chair, the mayor of Portland, and their staff for collaborating on these revisions to ensure emergency funds will be used to meet specific goals in our shared mission to reduce homelessness. Oregonians are demanding accountability, and this was an important step forward in our work to deliver results.”
Under those specific goals, the targets for Portland/Multnomah County are creation of 140 new shelter beds and rehousing of 275 households by the end of this year.
The Joint Office of Homeless Services announced that Dan Field, a longtime Kaiser Permanente executive, would lead the Portland/Multnomah County operation starting April 28.
Kotek’s April 10 announcement was exactly three months after her Jan. 10 executive order — issued on her first full day as governor — declaring a state of emergency for homelessness and designating 10 counties within six regions as high priority for state aid. The Legislature added $26 million for aid to the 26 other counties excluded from her order. Kotek signed the money bill, plus a related housing policy bill, on March 29.
Assuming that local governments sign contracts with the affected state agencies, money is scheduled to start flowing by April 28.
