GRESHAM, Ore. — About a year ago, Multnomah County launched one of its many attempts at housing the homeless through a program called Move-In Multnomah. It promised more than 200 families a rent-free apartment for one year.
That year is over, and many of those families are facing the streets again, unable to make the rent payments on their own.
A Gresham mother with two young children, who asked to remain anonymous, was part of the program.
“It was a blessing, and I got the furniture paid for and everything was great. It was like, 'Wow, I would have a whole year to put my life on track,” she said.
Now, she lives off food stamps and $84 a week in child support.
“It's like, 'Oh, no, I’m about to be homeless in a tent with my kids and a dog owing money to a landlord with an eviction on my record … I’m actually about to be in a bigger hole than before being homeless,'” she said.
In the past year, she's tried finding a job and going back to school but says time ran out.
“It's been a hard year; I feel like I didn't get much done this year,” she said.
Brandi Tuck — who runs Path Home, a shelter in Southeast Portland that placed about 20 families into the program — said that she thinks the program was not "a long-term success."
“The challenge was we got a lot of rent assistance, but we didn't get any resources for case managers,” Tuck continued.
Shelters like Path Home have families on a waitlist hoping to get back in.
Earlier this week Multnomah County extended her rent assistance for several months. Path Home is now working to ensure her eviction doesn't go through. They also took care of her unpaid utility bills, preventing this woman from a life on the streets — at least for now.
“It makes me feel frustrated, and I feel sorry for all the other people. I can see why they fall into addiction on the streets — they just feel hopeless and hopeless and hopeless,” she said.
Multnomah county commissioners just voted to put $10 million toward preventing families from becoming homeless. It’s not clear if the families helped through Move-In Multnomah will see any of that money.