Funding for Multnomah County homeless day centers at risk
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Half of the day centers in Multnomah County — which provide basic necessities to people experiencing homelessness — could lose funding as the county looks to close a massive budget gap for its homeless services.
Why it matters: Day centers are often the first step to getting people living on the streets into housing, advocates said.
Driving the news: In February, the county announced its Homeless Services Department was facing a $104 million budget deficit, citing fluctuations in revenue from the Supportive Housing Services tax as one of the causes.
- But the county also acknowledged it used one-time funds to set up permanent programs with no plans to fund them once the funding expired.
- The department's proposed budget calls for cutting funding to four of the eight day centers in the county.
Zoom in: Blanchet House, a day center in Old Town that serves roughly 1,000 free meals each day and provides showers, personal hygiene products and medical care, is expecting to lose roughly $430,000 in county funding.
- Funding challenges aren't new, but "doing less doesn't simply mean that people will go without," executive director Scott Kerman told Axios. "Doing less means that people won't survive."
Rose Haven — a day center in NW Portland that serves women, children and non-binary people — is also facing a $430,000 cut.
- "Being outside is a very lonely and isolating existence," executive director Katie O'Brien told Axios, noting that Rose Haven is not only a place where people get their needs met but where a community of people "are in conversation with one another and supporting one another."
What they're saying: O'Brien said day centers are often where people take the first steps toward getting off the streets.
- "If somebody doesn't know where they're going to get a bathroom or a tampon or a decent meal, it's impossible for that person to then think about, 'Oh, how am I going to find a job?'" she said.
The other side: County spokesperson Denis Theriault said it was still early in the budget process and "no final decisions have been made" ahead of a final vote in June, so the county couldn't comment on specific proposed cuts.
- But Theriault said day centers are "an important part of our regional system of services."
- "With limited resources this year, we must work to balance funding and other needs across all of those programs, and those discussions are ongoing," he said in an emailed statement.
What's next: Kerman and O'Brien both said they would look to private donors to fill the gap left by the cut in county funds.
- But O'Brien said Rose Haven has had to rethink expansion plans they were working on earlier this year and she's frustrated that their services, which she said had a "huge public benefit," won't have the benefit of public funds.