“You think it’s never going to happen to you,” Betsy said, but “I became homeless.” Sitting in the living room of her home in a Gresham affordable housing complex, Betsy reflected on what happened seven years ago when “the bottom fell out.”
After moving to Oregon from New Jersey decades ago, Betsy and her husband lived in a home on a two-acre property in Estacada for fifteen years. That’s where they raised their three children, who are now adults and live out of state. When her husband passed away, Betsy sold the house and moved to Portland. Though moving from a farm to an urban area was a transition, Betsy enjoyed living in the city.
Betsy was living in Gresham when one hardship led to another, and she lost her home. She had never experienced homelessness before. “It was scary,” she remembered, “I didn’t know what to do. I had no family in town. It was a tough situation,” she said. Betsy and her dog Vlad were sleeping in her car when she called 211 to see what support was available. An agent at 211 gave her the phone number for Human Solutions (now called Our Just Future), and the nonprofit connected Betsy with the Gresham Woman’s Shelter, which they manage.
Betsy didn’t know what to expect at the shelter, but she found a positive, safe and supportive environment. She lived there for the next two years. During that time, Betsy took a RentWell class – a tenant education program by nonprofit Transition Projects that teaches participants how to look for housing and how to be successful in rental housing. She also received resources and support at the shelter. “They pretty much taught me what I needed to do to be successful,” she said. “To get suitable housing – the right kind of housing.”
About a year after Betsy put her name on Cascadia Health’s affordable housing wait list, an apartment opened. Betsy applied and was accepted for an apartment on the border of Portland and Gresham, where she now resides.
In the two years Betsy was living in the Gresham Woman’s shelter, she formed a bond with Heather, who was working at the front desk at that time. Betsy remembers times when Heather’s son used to come to the shelter and play with Betsy’s dog, Vlad, in the parking lot. Heather was “there every day, working right amongst us, making sure we were up on time.”
After Betsy moved into her new home, Heather transitioned into a different position with Our Just Future as a Housing Program Coordinator. In this new role Heather stays in communication with Betsy, checking-in every month or two to let Betsy know Heather and Our Just Future are there if she needs anything. “They’ve never turned me down,” Betsy said. Heather offers support ranging from moral support and advice to financial resources. This has included connecting Betsy with emergency rent assistance on two occasions when she had trouble paying her rent.
Both Heather’s position and the emergency rent assistance Besty received are paid for by Metro’s supportive housing services fund. The fund was created by a ballot measure voters approved in 2020 to pay for supportive services for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Since the first funding became available in 2021, Metro’s county partners have provided eviction prevention services and rent assistance to help over 20,000 people in greater Portland who are at risk of homelessness stay in their homes.
"The Metro money has been amazing for the housing community,” Heather explained. Before she stepped into her current position, there was very little money available to support program participants after they left the shelter. When she started her new job and her supervisor told her how much funding was available through Metro’s supportive housing services fund, she was shocked. She remembers thinking, “this is amazing, the things we can do with this money.” Since that time, she’s seen many women’s lives impacted by this funding – whether it’s helping them stay in their housing or enabling staff to take them shopping for things they need. “Without this funding,” she said, “I just don’t think we’d be able to do such good in the community that we’ve done.”
Betsy has lived in her home for the past three and a half years. What she enjoys most about where she lives is gardening in the communal garden beds, visiting with her neighbors and walking Vlad in the park nearby. She’s looking forward to planting flowers in the spring and to her grandchildren visiting. She plans to make a big meal and take them swimming at the park. Reflecting on her experience with homelessness and living in the shelter, she explained, “the little things become more important to you because you appreciate a lot more.” She said she tries not to take anything for granted.