Message from Traci: Investments in PSH are a bright spot in our housing landscape.
Dear friends,
In the affordable housing community, we know that permanent supportive housing, or PSH, is a model that works. By combining deeply affordable housing with voluntary services to support residents’ recovery and build independent living, PSH has been proven to improve long-term outcomes for people who experience chronic homelessness. Yet, funding policies haven’t always reflected our understanding that investments in PSH pay off.
So, it’s worth noting that Oregon has significantly expanded its investment in PSH, with visible results. Hard-fought funding wins at state and local levels are generating a boom in PSH development compared to five years ago. The trend is evident at HDC, where roughly half the development projects we’re currently assisting contain PSH units. (You can learn about one of them, New Narrative’s 100% PSH Douglas Fir Apartments, in our interview with New Narrative Vice President of Operations Will Allen that we’re sharing with you this month.)
Importantly, new and expanded PSH funding programs, such as the Metro housing bond and Oregon Housing and Community Services’ PSH Program, support all three legs of the PSH stool—delivering not just development capital, but also long-term rent subsidies and funding for service delivery. This comprehensive funding approach will help community-based housing and service providers deliver on the full potential of PSH. Training opportunities provided by the Oregon Supportive Housing Institute, a partnership between OHCS and CSH, are further strengthening providers’ capacity to develop and operate PSH.
At HDC, we’re committed to supporting housing owners to make the most of new PSH development opportunities.
We’re assisting owners not only to access PSH development funds, but also to navigate the technical aspects of putting the funds to use—for instance, by working with project funders to devise methods to integrate rent subsidies into long-term project financing.
We’re continuing a long-term partnership with the Portland Housing Bureau to reduce financial risk to PSH owners by administering the Risk Mitigation Pool, which reimburses owners for excess repair and operating costs associated with operating PSH. We will soon launch a similar partnership with Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah counties to support owners of Metro-funded PSH units.
We’re building our knowledge of PSH. Three of our staff have completed the Oregon Supportive Housing Institute curriculum since 2019, while others are learning and sharing knowledge on the job.
PSH is not a cure-all; we need a spectrum of approaches to address Oregon’s ongoing homelessness crisis, including policies that treat all its root social causes. But Oregon’s strengthened commitment to PSH is a bright spot in the housing landscape. Together, we are delivering real social returns on our communities’ investments in PSH: creating permanent, sustainable, service-supported homes that will help thousands of Oregonians experiencing homelessness to move toward recovery and housing stability.
Warm regards,