Gov. Kotek, state agency announce current, projected homelessness initiative outcomes

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — On Thursday, Governor Tina Kotek and Oregon Housing and Community Services announced current and projected outcomes as a result of the governor’s homelessness initiative work since her first day in office.

This includes her Emergency Homelessness Response and collaboration with the agency and local partners to implement a transparent, outcomes-oriented budget to make progress on addressing homelessness.

The announcement is accompanied by a data dashboard that shows the progress for the goals set within the Governor’s Executive Order 24-02. The dashboard shows 80% completion of the goal to rehouse 650 households experiencing homelessness and progress toward the goal to prevent 11,856 households from homelessness.

These numbers are in addition to the goals exceeded during the first year of the Emergency Homelessness Response within EO 23-02, declared on her first day in office.

Preliminary analysis of the Governor’s homelessness initiative work shows that by the end of the 2023-25 biennium:

• 2,400 or more existing shelter and navigation beds will be maintained;
• 1,700 or more new shelter beds in Oregon communities will be added;
• 2,700 or more households will be rehoused;
• 24,000 or more households will be prevented from becoming homeless;
• 2,800 or more affordable housing units will be produced with state resources; and
• Infrastructure for 25,000 or more affordable and market rate housing units will be provided.

“I want to acknowledge the unwavering focus and collaboration with the legislature, state agencies, local governments, and communities for the progress we’ve made since I first took office,” Governor Kotek said. “Oregonians were clear that the homelessness crisis needed urgent action, and these preliminary results show what happens when we set ambitious goals and follow through with targeted, outcome-oriented policy and investments.”

“Homelessness is a matter of shared urgency, humanity, and resolve across Oregon,” OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell said. “The dashboard offers necessary transparency, easily accessible data, and a way to assess whether we are investing in effective, housing-focused, community-driven solutions. The public both wants and deserves this.”

As part of Governor Kotek’s homelessness initiative, the Governor signed EO 24-02 on January 9, 2024 to extend the Emergency Homelessness Response and build upon the effectiveness of EO 23-02. The two-year Emergency Homelessness Response has worked in tandem with bold legislation and $500 million in investments passed in the 2023 and 2024 Legislative Sessions to build the foundation needed to meaningfully prevent and reduce homelessness across the State of Oregon.

Find more information on Oregon’s Emergency Homelessness Response here.

Editor’s Note: OHCS’ preliminary Emergency Homelessness Response dashboard will not display real-time data. Local regions own and manage the local data and may have more recent or real-time data on their websites. OHCS aims to update the Emergency Homelessness Response dashboard as frequently as the statewide data becomes available.