A total of 6,055 formerly homeless people are currently in safe and stable housing in Multnomah County with the support of the voter-approved Metro Supportive Housing Services (SHS) Measure, a new annual report from Multnomah County shows.
Marking the halfway point of the historic 10-year measure, the report shows Multnomah County exceeded many of its annual goals and is on track to achieve its 10-year commitments ahead of schedule. The measure also allowed the County to develop responsive new approaches, including major improvements to its street outreach strategy, resulting in better coordination and data collection.
For community members like “JH,” a veteran in recovery who stayed in Do Good Multnomah’s recovery-focused Thayer Family Foundation Veterans Shelter, services funded through the measure have meant everything. Since staying at the shelter, JH secured a job and saved up enough for a car. And he’s reconnected with some of his family.
“I really wanted it this time,” JH said of his recovery. “If you have the want and the will, you can overcome.”
“These aren’t just numbers. These are thousands of people whose lives have fundamentally changed with the support of this measure. They have gone from experiencing homelessness to having a stable place to call home,” said Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “While we celebrate the successes at the halfway point of this measure, we also know that the work is far from over. I am hopeful that this measure’s impact will continue, changing the lives of thousands more of our neighbors.”
Approved by voters in 2020, the SHS measure has become integral to Multnomah County’s homeless services continuum, funding about 60% of the Homeless Services Department’s (HSD) total operating budget. While Multnomah County combines SHS revenue with other funding to power a much larger countywide safety net, the annual report tracks only SHS-funded outcomes from Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026).
Even as the funds are working as intended in our community, homelessness continues to be a crisis. The report shows that on average, for each formerly homeless person placed into housing, three new people fell into homelessness in Multnomah County each month.
Systemic forces, including rising costs of living, cuts to federal aid programs, a shortage of deeply affordable housing, and gaps in the healthcare system, mean that the need for additional resources continues to grow.
Key outcomes and performance highlights
The following outcomes are from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, and are specifically focused on SHS-funded programs in Multnomah County.
- Thousands kept off the streets with ongoing investments: In total, SHS supported 6,055 people across 3,956 households this year when counting both new placements and people who are still in housing with ongoing housing retention support. These are people currently in housing, and who are still receiving rent assistance, who would likely fall back into homelessness without the ongoing support of the measure.
- Exceeding housing placement targets: In Fiscal Year 2026 alone, SHS funding allowed 1,463 new people (994 households) to move off the streets and out of shelters into permanent homes, achieving 147% of Multnomah County’s annual placement target for households.
- Exceptional long-term housing stability: Interventions delivered lasting success, with 93% of individuals placed in ongoing, SHS-funded Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) remaining stably housed one year later, surpassing the regional goal of 85%. For shorter-term Rapid Rehousing programs, where rental assistance is often limited to just one year, 84% of people remained housed one year after their subsidies ended.
- Stemming inflow into homelessness: Upstream eviction prevention programs kept 1,711 people (1,147 households) from falling into homelessness, achieving 153% of the department's annual prevention goal.
- Ahead of schedule on 10-year goals: The County added 201 new supportive housing units in Fiscal Year 2026, bringing the total added since July 2021 to 1,751 units. In just five years, Multnomah County has fulfilled 78% of its 10-year commitment to create 2,235 supportive housing units.
- Safe shelter and improved street outreach: A total of 4,434 individuals (3,718 households) found a safe place to sleep in Multnomah County’s 1,871 SHS-funded shelter beds and units — an 11% increase in households served over the previous year. Six SHS-funded outreach teams engaged 640 newly identified individuals under a newly established geographic zone model designed to eliminate countywide service gaps.
- Responsible fiscal stewardship: HSD met its spending targets and invested more than $168.7 million directly into community programs.
- Focused support for highest-need neighbors: In SHS-funded Permanent Supportive Housing, 98% of households served met "Population A" criteria — individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, living on extremely low incomes, and navigating at least one disabling condition. Systemwide, 53% of all individuals served across SHS programs reported living with a disability. This means that SHS is successfully serving Multnomah County neighbors who need the most support.
- Declining disparities in chronic homelessness: By-Name List data confirmed that the rate at which BIPOC individuals experience chronic homelessness in Multnomah County has slowly but steadily trended downward since 2023. This indicates Multnomah County is making progress on the measure’s long-term goals to reduce the documented and disproportionately high rates of homelessness experienced by historically marginalized groups.
These outcomes were made possible thanks to the 60 contracted community providers that provide direct, front line services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in Multnomah County.
“The successes achieved in the first five years prove that pairing rent assistance with intensive supportive services works, keeping 93 percent of permanent supportive housing participants stably housed a full year later,” said Nathaniel VerGow, director of the Homeless Services Department. “At the same time, the struggle on our streets remains acute. Being accountable to voters means making sure funding reaches our most vulnerable neighbors, and showing that every dollar delivers real progress. Even in a tighter budget climate, our job is to hold our programs to high standards and fiercely protect the housing solutions that save lives.”
Overseen by the Metro regional government, the Supportive Housing Services measure funds programs across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, requiring consistent regional alignment, shared data systems, and close coordination across all three jurisdictions.
“Homelessness does not stop at county lines, which is why this measure was designed as a truly regional investment,” Metro Council President Juan Carlos González said. “In 2020, voters across Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties chose a unified path to confront this crisis together. The stability and housing retention numbers that we have achieved in year five of the Supportive Housing Services measure show the power of that shared commitment.”
While the first five years centered on rapidly scaling regional infrastructure, Multnomah County’s focus for the second half of the measure will center on fiscal sustainability, health and housing cross-sector integration, and measurable results. The complete Multnomah County Fiscal Year 2026 Supportive Housing Services Annual Report is available for public review at this webpage.
