The pandemic years — and the ones just after — are a time we will remember for the rest of our lives. Between the rapid shift in lifestyles — the shutdowns and restrictions, and the isolation and uncertainty, the advent of COVID-19 was history in the making. And then there was the aftermath — the way our lives shifted socially, emotionally and also financially, with rising rents and inflation causing so many people to tip over the brink of economic catastrophe. We all see the effects of that still today, with homelessness among the top issues Americans are concerned about. Even in prosperous Bend, where jobs are plenty, albeit not always high-paying, the sight of tent encampments became the norm in 2020.
It is against this backdrop that we reflect this week on some of the wins our current governor is celebrating, and which Oregonians should celebrate, too. When Tina Kotek was running for the governor's seat, we saw in her a hard-working go-getter who was likely to push hard on fulfilling her campaign promises. By all accounts, that's exactly what she's done.
On her first day in office, as promised, Kotek declared a homelessness state of emergency and set forth three goals to help alleviate the crisis. According to analysis this month from Oregon Housing and Community Services, all three of those goals were exceeded.
Goal one involved adding at least 447 more low-barrier shelter beds to Oregon's inventory. That goal was exceeded by 175%, when 1,047 low-barrier beds came online in the past year. We've seen this increase ourselves in Central Oregon, with the addition of more shelter beds in Redmond this year.
The second goal involved rehousing those who were experiencing unsheltered homelessness. That goal, too, was exceeded by a big amount. The goal was to rehouse 633 households; the end result was 1,833 — a 153% increase.
The third goal was to prevent people from experiencing homelessness in the first place, with a goal of preventing some 8,000+ households from losing their homes. That goal was also exceeded, by 243 households.
That state of emergency declared in 2023 was only a temporary fix, as states of emergency usually are. But on the anniversary of her first year in office, Gov. Kotek signed a new order to help the state maintain that added capacity to the shelter system, rehouse more people and help prevent even more people from experiencing homelessness. In a time when income inequality and economic disparities persist, and when the state of Oregon finds itself in a strong budgetary position, these are investments that can and should be made.
Oregonians got what they asked for when they hired Tina Kotek to make good on her campaign promises. There's still so much work to be done to help address the ongoing addiction crisis and the income disparities that can sometimes lead to homelessness, but for just a moment, it's nice to celebrate a success.
