Collaborative Development Ready to Launch

Project pairs a residential treatment center with permanent homes

A June tax credit award from the Oregon Housing and Community Services department secured the future of a development involving Home Forward and non-profit Lifeworks NW.  The partnership will produce a replacement facility for the Project Network residential substance abuse treatment program and an apartment community alongside it for people in recovery.  Apartment residents will have access to supportive services as they reunite with their families and rebuild their lives.

"Project Network is a long-standing, successful program that needs a new home," said Mike Andrews, head of development for Home Forward.  "We're pleased to manage a project that is creating an even stronger hub of recovery."  The Northeast Portland location is in an area that doesn't have many affordable housing choices for families and is close to transportation and Project Network's current site.  Lifeworks NW will own and operate the treatment facility, and the apartments will become part of Home Forward's real estate portfolio.

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$5.5 Million Grant Links Housing and Employment

The success of a pilot project that provided intensive employment support for Home Forward residents led to a winning bid for a $5.5 million workforce innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that extends these efforts to nearly 500 housing authority residents across the Portland metro area.  The expanded program will be led by the workforce agency, Worksystems, Inc., and involve four housing authorities and three workforce agencies.

The original collaboration between Home Forward and Worksystems, Inc. began in 2010 with funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.  Two key success factors will be replicated: tiered services that provide workforce orientation, skills training, and job placement and support, and a team approach that encourages groups of participants to help each other.  Income rose dramatically, with the strongest gains for those who participated in the group model.

Learn more about the grant and the pilot program>

Waiting List Openings Draw More Than 4,000

Lines start before dawn at New Columbia Strong response to waiting list openings in June and July was a sobering reminder that demand for affordable housing in our community vastly outstrips supply.  Over three days in June, nearly 3,000 applied to live at New Columbia.  Earlier this month, another 1,300 sought homes at four Home Forward public housing communities that serve seniors and persons with disabilities.

Geographic Boundaries Erased for Voucher Holders

Drivers cross between counties in the Portland metro area every day without knowing where one begins and the other ends.  Home Forward and the Housing Authority of Clackamas County have made it just as easy for the participants in their respective Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) programs to move between the counties the agencies serve.

Voucher holders in the two programs now can look for a home in Multnomah and Clackamas counties without having to apply for permission to "port" if they want to live in the county served by the other housing authority.  This broadens their access to homes in different parts of the metro area and reduces administrative costs for the housing authorities.

Learn more about the new arrangement>