April 16, 2025 – Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards released the statement below following today’s announcement of a new, Homeless Response System Data Dashboard:
“For over a year now, I have repeatedly asked for better data to give us a clear look at what’s really happening on our streets and in our neighborhoods. If we don’t have accurate data on the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, we won’t know whether we are making progress, treading water, or losing ground on moving people off the streets and into shelter and providing a path to housing.
“This data is critical in determining what services and strategies are most effective at giving people a path into permanent, stable housing, and it is a clear call for us to work closely with the City of Portland to make progress on the humanitarian crisis. Incremental progress isn’t enough, and this data underscores the need to take bold and urgent action to drastically reduce homelessness.
“As shocking as it is to see the new numbers, it provides us with better data that should be used to inform better outcomes. The flow-through data now available on the Data Dashboard tells us that our shelter strategies work to get people connected to services and stabilized, but without more transitional and permanent housing options, people have a hard time moving on.
“Homelessness requires a collective, community response. We need to fulfill the City-County commitments to our Community Sheltering Strategy that calls for a net significant increase in shelter beds, and we need the City of Portland and those with the responsibility to drive increased housing production to deliver on that needed housing supply.
“We’re entering into a difficult budget environment. So, it is imperative we work strategically as a region to leverage our resources and maximize the effectiveness of the programs and services that connect people to a path to housing.
Ultimately though, to truly end homelessness, we need more housing. As we work to sustain the County’s shelter services and expand behavioral health and addiction treatment services, we need the City and Metro to take urgent action to fund more transitional, affordable and permanent housing that meets the diverse needs of our community.”