The Joint Office of Homeless Services was established in 2016 to oversee the delivery of services to people experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County. The office represents a shared commitment between Multnomah County and the City of Portland to making services easier to access for those in need.
The Joint Office of Homeless Services, among other things, administers contracts for services, conducts homeless street counts and one-night shelter counts, manages systems of care, oversees system reporting and evaluation, and writes proposals to and monitor funds issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program. Please learn more about our community-wide effort to address homelessness, A Home for Everyone, at ahomeforeveryone.net.
IMPORTANT: If you're calling for direct services, please call 211 or go to 211info.org.
Director: Marc Jolin, marc.jolin@multco.us
Main number for general information, comments and questions: (503) 988-2525
Address: 721 SW Oak Street, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97205
Meetings by appointment only.
For media inquiries and public records requests: Denis Theriault, communications coordinator, denis.theriault@multco.us, (503) 893-9430
At a time when some local voices have joined the Trump administration in demanding massive warehouse-style facilities on the fringes of the community — at the expense of neighborhood-based shelters wh
The funds will help the Joint Office of Homeless Services turn almost 300 affordable apartments into supportive housing and services.
Last year’s summery vibes gave way to scenes of autumnal coziness — hay bales, pumpkins and hot chai tea — but once again, the men at Wy’east were invited to join their neighbors for food and music.
Methamphetamine overdoses on the rise; while homicide takes the lives of 10
Beyond calling for mass shelters far from city centers, the president and his team have urged communities to rely on police more, instead of less, in responding to people in a mental health crisis.
Building design, pre-construction, programming is underway for project slated to open in 2021
Supporters of the effort unveiled survey results from more than 180 people with lived experience who were asked what a new street response program should provide.
With funding in place for nine new developments and wraparound services — including contributions from the Joint Office, regional tourism taxes and the sale of Wapato — every bond goal has been met.
Blumenauer’s report, called “Locked Out: Reversing Federal Housing Failures and Unlocking Opportunity,” lays out policy shifts that would tackle housing affordability and homelessness from all sides.
With a built-in health clinic and commercial kitchen — and a focus on one-on-one engagement — the Laurelwood Center won’t just offer guests a shelter bed. It will offer them a path back to housing.
Rents at the Lincoln are low, just $440 to $550 a month. But because most tenants are seniors or have disabilities, they rely on fixed incomes and will struggle to find new homes they can afford.
The 100-bed shelter, built with private-sector donations, will operate with Joint Office funding. Its case management model will help people experiencing chronic homelessness return to housing.
Read about the results of the 2019 Point in Time Count.
The County and its partners help thousands of households avoid the streets with rent assistance. But without new revenue, or an infusion from the federal government, rent hikes threaten those gains.
During severe weather, anyone seeking shelter should call 211 to learn what shelters are open and when — and to arrange a ride to shelter if needed.
After unanimous votes this month by the Board of Commissioners and the Portland City Council, dozens of deeply affordable, family-size apartments will soon rise on a large North Portland lot.
Every day and night through Tuesday, Jan. 29, volunteers and workers will survey as many neighbors experiencing homelessness as possible, asking them where they slept the night of Jan. 23.
Board of Commissioners unanimously OKs a purchase and sale agreement, starts 60 days of due diligence; Southwest Park Street site rises to the top for potential resource center with peer-led services
Supportive housing is often the most effective answer for chronic homelessness and the visible livability challenges that long-term homelessness presents
A candlelit walk and vigil on Winter Solstice honors those who live and die on area streets.
Outreach workers rely on community donations to do their work. A remarkably mild winter, so far, has left outreach workers with fewer donated blankets, even though the need for gear is just as strong.
Gov. Brown toured the shelter — the only one east of César E. Chávez Boulevard just for women — to highlight the record level of homelessness and housing investments in her proposed budget.
The shelter will provide nighttime accommodations from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily through April 30, 2019. The Joint Office is funding the shelter as part of its annual commitment to add seasonal beds.
To learn how and where to donate crucial life-saving winter gear — or to train as a volunteer during a severe-weather warming center — go to 211info.org/donations.
Changes will emphasize helping families earning no more than 60 percent of median income and expand the pool of eligible development projects.
Methamphetamine overdoses on the rise; five died of hypothermia during January storm
Annual "Recovery Month" proclamation honors those in recovery from substance use disorder and raises awareness about treatment options.
The County will spend $4 million helping the Portland Housing Bureau purchase and renovate the Westwind Apartments —creating supportive housing downtown to help with chronic homelessness.
Thanks to Multnomah County Department of County Human Services’ A Place For You pilot, Sherry and her niece now have a place to call home for the first time in years.
Overall, more than 35,000 people received some level of housing and wraparound services last year, including nearly 6,000 who were helped off the streets into permanent housing.
Long-planned affordable housing development in Kenton is moving forward; officials are working to find a new home for the Kenton Women’s Village pilot project
The Portland Housing Bureau, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, Multnomah County Mental Health & Addiction Services and Oregon Housing and Community Services are offering $12 million.
Work on the shelter is part of a strategy to shift beds from temporary spaces opened under the city of Portland’s state of emergency to service-rich facilities designed for long-term success.
A winter shelter in the Mead Building has remained open. In addition, a shelter will open in mid-June at the Department of Community Justice East Campus.
The proposed budget calls for spending even more next year on housing, health and homelessness services -- from resources for renters to new syringe disposal boxes to new housing supports .
Implementation committee to focus on six proposals for regional partnerships
Oregon Harbor of Hope announces a $1.5 million contribution from Columbia Sportswear's Tim Boyle toward construction of a 120-bed shelter north of the Broadway Bridge.
SPARC's work in Multnomah County will include data analysis and training sessions, but rely intensely on focus groups and interviews with people of color who have lived experience with homelessness.
Philanthropic organization invests $150,000 to study how a program helping just 40 households now could one day help hundreds of families instead
Multnomah County, Central City Concern team up on transitional housing for people leaving Unity, other psychiatric inpatient programs
On Feb. 22, the busiest night so far this season, 361 people took refuge across four warming centers operated by the Joint Office and its contracted nonprofit partner, Transition Projects.
Multnomah County suspended operations at the Human Solutions Family Center on Wednesday night, in response to concerns that damage from a leaking roof might threaten the building’s safety.
The site would serve 100-120 people, with priority for women, couples, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities. Transition Projects would run the shelter, set to open as soon as Fall 2018.
The County will operate the transitional housing at least five years in partnership with Central City Concern.
Chair Kafoury and Commissioner Stegmann tour faith-based, non-profit family shelter in Gresham.
The Home for the Holidays campaign helped 42 families out of shelter and into permanent housing from Nov. 15, 2017, to Jan. 15, 2018. That's more than the goal of 40 families set when it launched.
The Multnomah County Health Department’s annual review of homeless deaths finds that 80 people who were experiencing homelessness died on local streets in 2016.
The shelter, operated by Portland Homeless Family Solutions, will provide nighttime accommodations for up to 75 children and their parents from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily through April 30, 2018.
Stephanie Ramirez and Surri Noelle were the first family to move out of shelter and into a permanent home of their own as part of this winter’s Home for the Holidays campaign.
Home Forward, the public housing authority serving Multnomah County, could lose close to $200 million in funding that would affect close to 1,800 units.
Andrea Bunch and her son, Michael, were among the first three families to move from shelter and into apartments this month through Multnomah County and Portland’s Home for the Holidays campaign.
The 5th Avenue Shelter, at 421 SW 5th Ave., will provide accommodations for up to 75 men, with priority for veterans, people 55 and older, and those with disabilities.
The goal is to house 40 families by Jan. 15. Property agents with a unit to offer can email home@humansolutions.org.
Leaders in Portland, Multnomah County are asking the community to go to 211info.org right now, before a storm hits, to learn how to volunteer at a warming center or donate winter gear
Supportive housing is sometimes the only effective strategy for people struggling with significant disabilities and long-term homelessness.
Nearly 4,900 people obtained housing in fiscal year 2017 -- hundreds more than the goals partners in A Home for Everyone set before the year began.
The rally at McCoy Park, in the heart of New Columbia, was one of a series of events nationwide for National Housing Week of Action, led by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Dozens showed up, including elected leaders, advocates and clients.
This year's count of people sleeping without shelter is down nearly 12 percent, including key reductions for populations whose numbers spiked in 2015: women, African Americans and veterans.
Through the first nine months of fiscal year 2017, which ends June 30, providers say they’ve helped a record 6,733 people, according to a new quarterly outcomes report released this week.
Community event celebrates opening of Kenton Women's Village, a unique collaboration that provides shelter, services and a self-governing community for women experiencing homelessness.
The Shleifer building’s co-owners are offering their space on the Central Eastside before they begin restoring the 111-year-old building for use as a hotel. The shelter will stay open into the fall.
An agreement with Central Eastside development firms extends the life of the Columbia Shelter downtown & shows the power of private-public partnership when it comes to providing safety off the streets
Advocates met with Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury at the Q Center for a listening session that waded into some of the most serious issues facing the local LGBT community: Oregon’s housing crisis and potential shifts in LGBT civil rights.
The East County Caring Community discusses "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” this year's Everybody Reads pick by the Multnomah County Library. Some say they could've written it.
In a rare combined briefing, commissioners from Multnomah County and Portland hear highlights from the Joint Office of Homeless Services' first seven months.
“If we can do it with veterans," says Joint Office of Homeless Services director Marc Jolin, "we can do it with every population’’
The count offers a snapshot of how our most vulnerable people neighbors are faring in a harsh housing market, guiding local leaders as they spend millions of dollars on ending homelessness
The letter highlights resources available to tenants who are struggling with lost wages because of winter weather and calls upon landlords to work with tenants who may be struggling to pay rent.
Chair Kafoury will testify before the Portland City Council this afternoon in support of a new policy that would require landlords to pay moving expenses for tenants who receive no-cause evictions.
After one of the most severe winter storms in decades, two Portland businesses have joined with the City of Portland and Multnomah County to reopen a winter shelter Tuesday.
A dozen businesses have joined Multnomah County and the City of Portland to open a winter shelter for men ages 55 and older, veterans or men with a disability.
The Willamette Center, 5120 S.E. Milwaukie Ave, will serve up to 120 people, including women and 45 couples. It is the largest couples shelter in the area.
More than 9,000 people at risk of becoming homeless were able to stay in their homes last year, as a result of the efforts of the A Home for Everyone and investments from Multnomah County.
Later this month, the Joint Office of Homeless Services will open a new 24-hour shelter at the location of former Sheriff’s Office.
The Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners on Thursday approved an Intergovernmental Agreement between the county and the City of Portland establishing the Joint Office of Homeless Services.
This interactive map displays all of the shelters distributed across Multnomah County and the City of Portland.
Annual medical examiner review of deaths among people experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County.
