The Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance has approved an in-depth plan to address unsheltered chronic homelessness for people with severe service needs in the region.
The Alliance plan includes expansion of shelter and permanent supportive housing and enhanced social support services for unsheltered community members. The Alliance has applied for special U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development funds to further support this initiative.
The Marion-Polk region has a disproportionately large population of chronically homeless adults. Assessments of Marion-Polk unsheltered adults without children in the past year found 62% were chronically homeless.
By comparison, a 2020 snapshot identified 45% of unsheltered individuals in Oregon households without children, and 35% across the nation, were chronically homeless.
The new plan addresses this need by promoting partnerships with health care organizations, public housing authorities and housing providers, and people with lived experience with homelessness.
The Marion-Polk region added 392 emergency shelter beds since 2021 through Project Turnkey and other repurposed hotel/motel facilities, expansion of the Union Gospel Mission Men’s Mission, and development of micro-shelter villages.
For more information on the Alliance, visit www.mwvhomelessalliance.org.
