Message From Traci: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste

The housing market was already stretched to its breaking point last year, with property operating costs spiking and even restricted rents out of reach for some families. Now, we’re seeing the surface crack. Affordable properties are capsizing. In some local communities, units are sitting vacant, while shelters overflow.

A widening affordability crisis, touching everything from childcare to food, was already threatening vulnerable Oregonians last year. Now, leaders in Washington are slashing antipoverty programs and waging war on immigrant families*—and anyone who fits the profile.

There’s no silver lining to these growing crises. But there is an opportunity to mobilize for change. Housing leaders in Oregon are seizing it. We are on the move, building power and strength from adversity. Here is some evidence:

We are maintaining political allyship at high levels. Both Oregon’s governor and Portland’s mayor are laser-focused on housing and homelessness as their top priority. That’s an extraordinary development.

We are uniting broader coalitions. Lenders, advocacy organizations, nonprofit executive directors and asset managers are coming together to create legislation to stabilize housing portfolios. The diversity of representation in this effort is incredibly effective and is ongoing.

We are overcoming practical barriers—and doing our work better than before. Industry conferences in Oregon and Washington this fall showcased our creativity and determination. Cooperation was a key theme, from culturally specific organizations sharing asset management staff to lender/developer/operations teams collaborating to manage risk.

We are imagining a housing system that works for everyone. We’re looking to other continents and to other places here in the U.S. for examples of how to do housing differently.

Protecting our friends and neighbors who are under assault is an immediate, urgent priority. But let’s remember, these are battles in a long fight. When we join together to protect those who are most vulnerable in difficult times, the movement for housing and social justice gets stronger. We can emerge from this crisis as a collective that has the power to build the most human-centered housing system in the country. Let’s keep mobilizing.

*Please visit Oregon for All to join others in rejecting harmful efforts to divide our communities and families, learn what to do if you see ICE agents in your community, and offer your financial support.