When Liliana Weissman started working at Clackamas Women’s Services seven years ago, there was only one housing case manager. Now, thanks in large part to Metro’s supportive housing services fund, there are ten. “It’s amazing to have more resources available,” she said. “You can see the change and you can see how amazing it is to be able to offer more services than before when we didn’t have the resources.”
Voters in the Metro jurisdiction passed the ballot measure that established the fund in 2020. In the three years since the first funding became available, Clackamas County leaders have overseen a massive expansion of the system to support people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
After focusing on expanding their system for the first few years, the county is now firing on all cylinders. By the end of the third quarter of the last fiscal year, they had already met and exceeded three of the four program goals in their annual work plan.
As a result of this work, between July 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024:
- 403 people (or 167 households) received short-term rent assistance and support, compared to the county's goal of 167.
- 797 households experiencing housing instability were able to keep their homes or avoid an eviction on their record, compared to the county's goal of 625.
- 161 shelter beds are in operation throughout the county using SHS funds, compared to the county's goal of 155.
Throughout Clackamas County’s housing and homeless services programs, staff have reported increased capacity, shorter wait times and more options for those on the path to stability and wellbeing.
Getting connected: The Coordinated Housing Access program
The path to housing and services starts with the Coordinated Housing Access program. CHA is a central hub where community members experiencing a housing crisis can reach out by phone or through an online form. Staff complete an intake interview and try to connect each person with resources that are the best fit for their situation.
Lauren Decker started working at CHA in 2017. At the time she was the only person responding to phone messages. She remembers how CHA was only able to help people experiencing unsheltered homelessness – usually sleeping in a tent or vehicle. For everyone else, the best that caseworkers like Lauren could do was point them in the right direction for external resources.
During the pandemic, CHA went from receiving about 300 calls a month to 1,000 in one day. Volunteers from the community stepped up to help with intakes and the county also hired a few temporary employees. Before Metro SHS funds were available the program had four employees, and the new funding enabled them to hire six more. Now they answer the phones live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and partner with 211 to answer calls after-hours.
“[Metro SHS has] really has enabled us to be much more innovative,” Lauren said, “and really get creative in how to work with our community for Clackamas County specifically. So it's just been a huge gift for us.”
Each week, CHA can refer a number of households facing eviction to the county’s emergency rent assistance program. Even with a significant increase in funding from Metro SHS, the need is still greater than the resources available. This means intake staff prioritize people from vulnerable groups, like seniors, single parents, or people with a chronic health condition or disability.
When a caller is experiencing unsheltered homelessness, CHA staff places them on a waiting list and passes their information on to partner organizations as spaces become available in their programs. This could be a bed or pod in a shelter or a housing voucher, all of which come with supportive services.
The county also recently launched the Rapid Resolutions program, which offers what Lauren describes as “housing counseling” for people who are staying in a temporary situation, like sleeping on a friend’s couch. This is a more in-depth conversation after the initial intake: a staff member gathers detailed information about what each person or household needs in their situation in order to connect them with SHS-funded resources, like assistance with move-in costs or transportation.
Before the Metro SHS funding, “it was always just like, ‘your name is on a really long waiting list,’” Lauren remembers. “SHS has been such a game changer. My job used to be telling people ‘no,’ just all day long.” Now her team celebrates the “wins” that happen every week in a group chat. “We’re really making a difference in people's lives.”
In July of this year, the Clackamas County Coordinated Access Improvement Program received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award for its work.
Sometimes a little help is all you need: Emergency rent assistance
Clackamas County residents facing eviction have a few options. In some situations, a household can avoid eviction by paying back-due rent and utilities and getting help with the next few months of rent. That’s where the county’s short-term rent assistance program comes in. The program, located in the social services department, was first paid for with federal COVID dollars but is now funded through Metro SHS.
As Hoa Tran, the program’s senior case manager, explained, about 95% of eviction cases are for nonpayment of rent. Commons reasons for a sudden change of income are a serious illness, loss of employment, broken vehicle, or a change in the household – such as a death or divorce. This can leave households scrambling to catch up, with a rapidly increasing bill for rent, utilities and late fees.
Hoa Tran is the senior housing case manager for Clackamas County's short-term rent assistance program.
The short-term rent assistance program receives referrals through CHA, but the team also scans the eviction court filings and contacts tenants directly to see how they can help. When the household is approved for funding through the program, staff reaches out to the landlord to see if they will agree to the terms. In most cases the landlord will extend the deadline for payment or hold on the eviction process once they know rent assistance is on the way.
With the number of evictions renters are experiencing in the county and across the state, the need for this support is higher than the resources available. For example, landlords and property managers filed 30 eviction cases in the county in the first week of June. To make the most of limited resources, the program only provides funds for households who will be able stay in their homes, per their agreement with the landlord.
According to Hoa, many of the eviction cases the team sees these days are for seniors or people with disabilities living on fixed incomes – usually social security or other benefits – that aren’t keeping up with increases in rent and other expenses. For these households and others with more substantial challenges, long-term rent assistance is what’s needed. Program staff refer these households to CHA for intake.
Households facing eviction can also participate in Clackamas County’s landlord-tenant mediation program, located within the county’s Children, Family and Community Connections department. The program began as a pilot in 2022 with grant funding and was able to continue by using Metro SHS funds when the grant ended.
CHA refers participants to the program, but interested potential participants can also reach out to access the program through the website. Though most of the mediations are for households facing eviction, the program’s services are available for any kind of landlord-tenant conflict.
About 100 households a month participate in mediation through the program and nine out of ten are for nonpayment of rent. Of the cases that involve a non-payment notice (which happens before an eviction), 88% have resulted in a mutual agreement that enabled both parties to resolve the issue without involving the legal system. Mediators are also able to refer a limited number of tenants for emergency rent assistance each month.
There are some cases where the tenant knows they won’t be able to stay in their home long-term because they are unable to afford the rent. For these households, avoiding an eviction on their record means they will have a much easier time applying for their next rental home.
Program coordinator Melissa Miller is a trained mediator and has been leading the program for the past two years. Mediators are trained to be neutral and listen to both sides: “They get to the heart of the matter to support each party to come to their own solutions that would meet their needs,” she explained. Mediation can take place before the case makes it to court or during the legal eviction process, depending on when Melissa and her team come into the picture.
Melissa has found that with larger property management companies in particular the property manager is often unaware of what’s going on in the tenant’s life. So the first step in mediation is to explain what’s going on, whether that’s an illness, loss of employment, change in the household, or some other challenge. This can build empathy on the landlord or manager side for what the tenant is experiencing, which makes it more likely the two parties will be able to reach an agreement.
Mike has been working for a property management company for about a year, where his role entails collecting and processing rent payments. In that time, he’s seen situations where tenants had “really horrible things happen in their lives” that led to falling behind on rent. “Sometimes in life, things happen that aren’t according to plan,” Mike said, “[and] [tenants] ought to just be given a hand up.”
He started working with the program when he had a resident with a nonpayment issue who he didn’t want to see with an eviction on their record. In the past four months, he has referred about 15 people to the program. With the help of mediation and rent assistance, many were able to return to good standing and continue living in their homes. “I don't think it hurts anything to just open a dialog,” he explained.
One thing he values about the mediation program is that the eviction process is complicated, and it helps to have someone who can explain it to the tenant and support them in deciding what to do. He also appreciates how much Melissa cares about the tenants she supports through the program: “[She’s] always just going the extra mile to take care of people.”
Rowena is an 81-year-old great-grandmother and has been living in her Milwaukie apartment complex for 44 years. After a neighbor with whom Rowena had experienced personal conflict became the new property manager, Rowena received a termination notice for alleged lease violations.
Navigating a situation where one’s housing is threatened is stressful for anyone. But with multiple serious health issues including a heart condition, the doctor ordered Rowena to avoid situations that may threaten her health. Instead of a group mediation, Melissa spoke with the property manager one-on-one. After their conversation, the manager canceled the termination notice.
Rowena is an 81-year-old great-grandmother and has been living in her Milwaukie apartment complex for 44 years.
Ultimately Rowena is not able to afford the rent on her fixed income in the long-term, but now she can take her time finding a new home without worrying about being evicted. Staff at the county’s Social Services division are helping her find an apartment she can afford and will also assist with moving costs. “Those two are awesome,” she said of Melissa and the other county staff. “They really supported me and listened and helped me through some really tough times.”
“It takes a lot of courage to ask for help,” Melissa reflected. She enjoys seeing someone who’s in a difficult situation find resolution and relief: “They often cry, they emote, and they say things like, ‘I haven't slept in a really long time; I'm going to sleep tonight,’ or ‘I've been so worried, and now you’ve relieved a burden for me.’”
Finding long-term stability: rent assistance with services
For many households, more in-depth support is needed. Metro’s SHS fund offers two programs with rent assistance and services. Rapid-Rehousing is for households that only need a few years of help, at most, to become stable. Regional Long-Term Rent Assistance is designed to provide ongoing support to households that have experienced prolonged homelessness and have at least one disability and little or no income.
Clackamas County has successfully used these programs to massively expand their work addressing homelessness. As a result, by the end of March this year, 1,233 people were living in stable housing using RLRA vouchers and 449 had been enrolled in the RRH program. These housing programs – combined with an increase in outreach enabled by the SHS fund – has meant a 65% decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness across the county since 2019.
The county contracts with dozens of non-profit organizations for outreach, housing navigation, housing retention, and other services that Metro SHS pays for. Clackamas Women’s Services has been serving the community for nearly 40 years and is one of the county’s largest community-based organizations contracted for SHS programming. They provide specialized services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, human trafficking and other forms abuse, and their family members.
Before the Metro SHS fund, there were limited resources available to help program participants find housing they could afford. Subsidized public housing and the Section 8 voucher program have long waits and not nearly enough capacity compared to the need, and the organization’s housing case manager could only offer short-term solutions.
The influx of new funding enabled them to double their number of housing case managers and use the two Metro housing programs to move people off the waiting list for housing with services much more quickly than before.* Lately landlords have been reaching out to them directly with available apartments after hearing about their work. They also partner with affordable housing developers to provide services and access at different buildings.
“Overall, the SHS funding has been an absolute game changer for us,” said Executive Director Melissa Erlbaum. In part, this is due to the stability and timeline of the funding as compared to other funding. “That allows us to be more creative, be more flexible, house folks much quicker, and move survivors off that waitlist pretty rapidly,” she explained. To date, the organization has served 225 adults and 283 kids in the short- and long-term rent assistance program, with an average of 115 households a month engaging in these programs.
For domestic violence survivors, knowing there are services and housing resources available is often a factor that enables them to leave an abusive living situation. According to Melissa, “housing is one of the number one reasons people stay in abusive relationships; to keep that roof over the kiddo's heads.” In some cases, staff can get the individual or family into a motel immediately while they search for housing. Others have already left and may be temporarily staying at a friend or family member’s house, living outside in a tent or vehicle, or at Clackamas Women's Services’ emergency shelter, The Village.
In addition to the long-term rent assistance voucher program that serves households with a higher level of needs, Melissa emphasized how important it is to have a short-term option like the Rapid Rehousing program. Many households only need this lower level of support, and before the Metro SHS fund there were few options for them.
Liliana Weissman is the housing services manager at Clackamas Women's Services.
Liliana Weissman, the organization’s Housing Services Manager, also praised the transformational impact of the SHS funds. In addition to rent assistance, case managers provide essential support to program participants, helping them navigate barriers to accessing housing. In a domestic violence situation, these barriers may include the abuser having destroyed documents or ruined their credit, the participant not having rental history, or having an eviction on their record.
In situations where the participant has a negative incident in their rental history due to the abuse, the case manager works with the landlord to explain the circumstances. Part of the housing retention approach means the case manager is there to support the landlord as well as the program participant.
Liliana’s favorite part of the job is seeing people successfully leave dangerous situations and find stability. Once the individual or family is in housing, case managers continue to support them with things like budgeting, finding employment, mental health care, and substance use disorder. They can also help with move-in costs and other expenses.
When Terry arrived at the shelter with her grandkids, she didn’t know what to expect. “I was really scared,” she said; they were in a “really bad situation.” Terry found out about the shelter through a counselor at her granddaughter’s school who heard Terry had been sleeping outside to escape her abuser. The counselor connected Terry with CWS’s crisis and support line to access services and drove the family to the shelter.
Shelter staff created a plan for Terry and her family, helping them apply for a Regional Long-Term Rent Assistance voucher and complete other paperwork, taking her to meetings, and then looking for a place for them to live. After staying for several months at the shelter, they moved into their new home.
The family room at the Clackamas Women’s Services' The Village shelter. (photo courtesy of Clackamas Women’s Services)
“I don't think I ever felt more comfortable,” said Terry of her time at the shelter. “I've been running for a long time away from my problems instead of trying to resolve them.” At the shelter Terry found “some really good people that helped me deal with my emotions of what was going on with me during the abuse.” Terry attended counseling that helped her come out of survival mode and feel safe, “and so now I'm doing really good.”
A housing case manager and a youth advocate continue to work with Terry, checking in with her regularly and making sure she and her grandkids are doing well. Terry calls them her ‘angels’ because they’re always here for her. She feels safe in her new home with its security features, and the kids feel comfortable too. When her family first went into shelter her grandson wouldn’t talk to anyone and was failing school. Now he’s earning all A pluses and has been an honors student for the past six months. Terry is thinking about earning her high school diploma too – an opportunity she never had being married at 14.
“I really was at my total end before I went there. And I'm telling you, the staff there gave me the inspiration to keep going and that I could do this, and I did.”
*The RLRA and RRH programs are typically reserved for households experiencing homelessness. The population Clackamas Women’s Services serves is an exception due to the dangerous nature of their living arrangements.