Multnomah County homeless services funding squeeze
Multnomah County's Homeless Services Department faces a $67 million budget gap and federal funding changes that put $15-20 million in HUD grants at risk.
Bybee Lakes Hope Center in North Portland raised $1.3 million this year to keep 100 beds open after Multnomah County cut the funding that had supported them. KGW reported that more than 1,000 shelter beds within Multnomah County are set to close by the end of the year as a result of city and county budget cuts.
Multnomah County provided $1.5 million in September 2023 to keep Bybee Lakes Hope Center open on condition of a third-party financial review.
The Oregonian reported that Portland and Multnomah County will decommission more than 1,000 adult shelter beds between them by the end of the year — about a third of the beds that existed in January — after a five-year expansion that created more than 2,300 new beds. The article attributes the closures to county budget cuts and to Mayor Keith Wilson's shift toward the 1,500 overnight-only beds he campaigned on in 2024.
The Oregonian reported in June that more than 1,100 beds at 12 Portland-area shelters were slated to close by the end of 2026.
Multnomah County's Homeless Services Department will close the St. Johns drop-in center, a day center in North Portland for people experiencing homelessness, on August 31, after the Board of County Commissioners voted to cut its funding as part of addressing a $67 million shortfall in the department. According to the program, the center has served more than 330 people since opening in July 2025, with over 75 daily visitors; the county said its FY 2026 budgeted operating cost was about $530,000.
HSD said it will work to identify possible new facilities; a replacement center would open no sooner than July 2027.
Do Good Multnomah Workers United (AFSCME Local 1790) said a letter-writing campaign — 2,662 letters as of August 17 — preceded the nonprofit's reduction of the layoffs it announced in July from 14 to 8. The workers won union recognition in August 2024 and remain without a first contract; the bargaining unit has shrunk from about 250 workers to fewer than 200 during negotiations, following city and county budget cuts.
Northwest Labor Press reported in August that the July round was Do Good Multnomah's fourth staffing cut in a year.
Street Roots · on Homeless Services Department director Nathaniel VerGow's funding outlook
In an hour-long Street Roots interview, new Homeless Services Department director Nathaniel VerGow said $15 million to $20 million in county HUD funding could be at risk, with roughly 40% of HUD-funded programs forced into national competition and Tier 1 renewals capped at 60% versus roughly 90% or higher in prior years. He said Metro's supportive housing services tax now supplies 60% of HSD's budget and has housed more than 10,000 people, and that the county is converting rapid-rehousing programs to transitional housing in response to HUD restrictions.
VerGow told OPB the prior week that the agency must do as much if not more with less against a $67 million budget gap.