Oregon’s state housing finance agency, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), released its 2023 annual report, touting that the agency exceeded Gov. Tina Kotek’s housing construction goals set to help Oregonians through the state’s housing crisis.
The agency’s fiscal year 2023 annual report, “Building Oregon’s Future,” provides program and policy updates, as well as information on agency allocations and developments.
OHCS 2023 Report by the Numbers
After many years in roles supporting housing accessibility, Executive Director Andrea Bell has been overseeing OHCS since early 2022. During her time at the helm of the agency, Bell has helped direct the vision and growth of OHCS.
During her presentation on the 2023 annual report, she explained the importance of the document and how it helps hold government agencies accountable to the public.
“Building Oregon’s Future speaks to the progress the Oregon Housing Authority has made against its strategic objectives and the challenges facing our housing system,” Bell said. “The public has placed great trust in the Oregon Housing Authority, and we are living up to that trust with results that aim to improve the daily lives of Oregonians.”
The Legislature has invested more than $1 billion in OHCS and allocated hundreds of millions of dollars from the agency to support housing projects across Oregon. Here, we explain where the funds have been spent and how OHCS has stepped up and shared resources with those who need help most.
Funding and Oregon’s Housing Crisis
OHCS has allocated more than $436 million in funding through 2023.
Last year was the largest housing investment ever seen by OHCS from the Legislature to help address the statewide housing crisis. This legislative investment provided $1.14 billion for housing solutions, emergency homeless response, community homeless resources, homeownership resources and language access.
Following Governor Kotek’s housing emergency declaration, OHCS exceeded actionable goals set by the Governor, which were to add 600 low-barrier shelter beds in counties impacted by the emergency declaration, close at least 1,200 shelters, and prevent 8,750 households from losing their homes.
Work done by OHCS and partner agencies throughout 2023 resulted in 1,047 low-barrier shelter beds being created, 1,426 unsheltered households being rehoused, and 9,024 households being prevented from experiencing homelessness.
Other uses of funds include investments in energy-efficient upgrades and construction through the Oregon Multifamily Energy Program, whose energy upgrades have saved energy bills for 1,000 existing homes and 2,200 homes constructed; and requests for energy assistance have enabled OHCS to serve 67,121 high-cost households. An additional 18,561 homes received water and sewer utility assistance.
Other ways OHCS has supported Oregonians throughout 2023 include providing permanent supportive housing to 251 homes, replacing 28 manufactured homes, and helping 867 wildfire-impacted households fully recover. Homeownership funds were provided to nearly 1,300 households to prevent foreclosure, with the average assistance funds totaling $26,000. Additionally, 207 households received an average of $36,477 in down payment assistance, and assisted 116 first-time homeowners. More than 60% of all households are people of color.
Dashboard
In 2023, OHCS created seven new dashboards – digital data visualizations of program and agency outcomes – to increase transparency and make information more accessible across a range of data sets, such as the number of people OHCS served last year. These dashboards include:
- The Homeownership Dashboard highlights 1,993 people who received homeownership counseling and education.
- The Affordable Rental Housing Dashboard tracks how more than $405 million in funding has helped build or preserve 3,892 homes for 1,137 households earning 5 percent or less of the area median income.
- The Farmworker Housing Survey found that one in four farmworkers would like to own their own home, but there are barriers to doing so.
- The County Profile Dashboard found that 44% of Oregon homeowners are Hispanic or Latino, while 66% of white Oregon homeowners are Hispanic or Latino.
- The Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Dashboard highlights the need to preserve housing affordability for the 4,700 homes predicted to become unaffordable to rent over the next five years due to conversion to market rate.
- The Minority and Women-Owned Emerging Small Business Dashboard (MWESB) recognizes investments in these businesses, which is up $48 million compared to 2022.
- The OHCS Emergency Homeless Response Dashboard highlighted that the agency exceeded all three housing goals set by the Governor for emergency shelter, rehousing unsheltered households, and homelessness prevention.
Impact on the region
OHCS works across the state to provide resources and support for housing access and stability.
In Eugene, DevNW’s affordable housing project, Polk 2.0, has received nearly $2 million in funding from OHCS through Housing Development Grants and Market Cost Offset Funds in 2022. The project will provide six permanent supportive housing units for youth transitioning out of the foster care system and experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Peace Village Co-op in SquareOne Villages was awarded $4.8 million in Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) homeownership funding from OHCS in 2022. The project will develop 70 permanently affordable homeownership units for low-income households, making it the state’s largest housing cooperative.
OHCS has also provided funding for eight navigation centers across the state, including the River Avenue Navigation Center at 100 River Road in Eugene. These service hubs offer a wide range of supportive resources, including veterans benefits, health services and job skills development. They also provide hygiene products and laundry facilities, and most of the centers host mobile vaccine clinics, provide meals and maintain meeting space for case management.
As spring continues, a number of OHCS-supported housing projects are set to break ground around Eugene during the warmer months of the year. Projects such as Homes For Good’s Bridges on Broadway and Ollie Court are set to begin construction this summer with funding assistance from OHCS.
Housing takes time to develop, and OHCS is working diligently to allocate funding to provide partner agencies and households with the resources they need with an equity perspective to support all Oregonians.
Hannah-Rose McGuinness is the Register-Guard’s growth and development reporter. Reach her at 541-844-9859 oremail address
