Converting Motels and Hotels into Affordable Housing—It Works!
Date: Monday, Oct. 4
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm PDT (3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT)
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Moderator:
Yolanda Davila, BBVA
Panelists:
Megan Loeb, Associate Program Officer for Economic Vitality and Health at Oregon Community Foundation
Walter Moreau, Executive Director, Foundation Communities
Linda Taylor, H.O.M.E.S., Inc.
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Description:
States, cities and nonprofits are transforming older or vacant motels and hotels into short and long-term housing for the homeless. In this session you'll learn about strategies for creating permanent housing for youth aging out of foster care, the chronically homeless, and homeless veterans. The session will also explore hotels as rapid acquisitions to provide safe, socially distanced shelter for community members impacted by wildfires and COVID-19. Learn about the often complex financial structures cobbled together--often at great speed--to make these things happen, and how developers have navigated zoning challenges and NIMBY backlashes. These are creative opportunities to quickly stabilize older or vacant unused structures and to focus on creating long-term permanent housing.
Equitable Research, Evaluation, and Governance for Supportive Housing Programs
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 6
Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am PDT (1:30 pm -2:30 pm EDT)
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Panelists:
Dr. Marisa Zapata, Associate Professor of Land-Use Planning and Director of Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University
Alyssa Craigie, Director of Health Systems Integration, Health Share of Oregon
Bentley Moses, Program Manager, Center for Outcomes Research and Education
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Description:
What does it look like for homelessness research and evaluation practices to be centered on racial equity and people who have lived experience with homelessness? Researchers from Health Share of Oregon worked with Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative and Providence CORE to answer this question. They will discuss their study focused on the Regional Supportive Housing Impact Fund, which addresses the growing need for permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness with serious health care needs in the Portland metropolitan region. The findings and recommendations of this study provide actionable guidance for any organization seeking more equitable research, evaluation, and governance approaches for supportive housing and homelessness services.
Creating Permanent Supportive Housing Through a Trauma Informed Lens
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 6
Time: 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm PDT (6:00 pm - 7:30 pm EDT)
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Presenter:
Briana Manfrass, Associate Principal, Pinnacle Architecture
Ryan Cain, Project Designer, Pinnacle Architecture
Stacey Witte, Executive Director, REACH (Relationship Empowerment Action Compassion Heart)
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Description:
Imagine being a veteran suffering from PTSD and addiction and living on the streets in a constant state of flight or fight. You’re invited to live in a new PSH (Permanent Supported Housing) community with a roof over your head, a comfortable bed, and services to get you on your feet. It sounds like a dream come true, but for that veteran it’s a drastic change filled with unknowns. Going from living outdoors to occupying an enclosed space surrounded by strangers can trigger traumas and make it very difficult to transition into a new life. Anyone who wants to create successful PSH projects needs to understand that residents have experienced trauma and it's important to create an environment that promotes a sense of pride and dignity. Attendees will hear from a professional who works with our community’s most vulnerable daily and learn how designers integrate their needs into PSH projects.
Trauma-Informed Design in Housing
Date: Thursday, October 7
Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 am PDT (12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT)
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Panelists:
Dr. Christa Jones, Psychologist, Behavioral Health, Multnomah County
Kim Stanley, Interior Designer, RID, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C, WELL AP, Carleton Hart Architecture
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Description:
A holistic approach to transitional and permanent supportive housing must consider the influence of trauma on a person’s wellbeing. We're seeing how close collaboration among service providers, designers, and development teams can help create a built environment that contributes to the healing process. A joint presentation by Dr. Christa Jones, a psychologist, and Kim Stanley, an interior designer (RID, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C, WELL AP), will open with an overview of trauma and trauma-informed care by Dr. Jones, whose work includes creating programs for people experiencing or working through trauma. She will provide an overview of how trauma manifests across the lifespan, and discuss re-victimization and trauma-informed practices. Kim Stanley will share her experience working on projects for people who have experienced trauma. Through case studies, she’ll explore how to effectively use design techniques that minimize architectural triggers and contribute to occupants’ wellbeing while also promoting their dignity.
Unpacking The Village: New Research Toward Better Alternative Shelter
Date: Friday, October 8
Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 am PDT (12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT)
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Presenters:
Todd Ferry, Senior Research Associate and Faculty Fellow, Center for Public Interest Design, Portland State University
Dr. Marisa Zapata, Associate Professor of Land-Use Planning and Director of Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University
Dr. Greg Townley, Associate Professor of Community Psychology, Portland State University and Co-founder, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University
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Description:
The village model, which features non-congregate sleeping units and shared facilities, has emerged as a favorite alternative approach to providing shelter for houseless community members. Advocates argue that villages can be put in place quickly, use underutilized land, and offer common space for empowerment, healing, and community. Research at Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) provides critical context for the practices and outcomes of the village model. Learn from members of the interdisciplinary team at HRAC who conducted this research. They'll share key lessons from a multi-year study, funded by Meyer Memorial Trust, that engaged a range of stakeholders, including villagers, village managers/support-specialists, village designers/architects, and neighbors. As interest in the village model grows both locally and nationally, this team aims to identify best practices for the creation of more impactful and equitable villages--practices that can also inform a range of other approaches to alternative shelter.
Pathways to Stability for People Experiencing IDD and Homelessness
Date: Thursday, October 7
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm PDT (4:30 pm - 5:30 pm EDT)
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Moderator:
Margaret Van Vliet, Consultant, Trillium Advisors
Presenters:
Terri Silvis, Ph.D, CEO, Horizon Projects
Jennifer Knapp, Executive Director, Community Vision
Bryce Bahler, LICSW, Director, Transitional Community Treatment, Ryther
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Description:
This session will highlight the challenges and opportunities to securing stable housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Building off of EcoNorthwest's 2020 data study that revealed deep but still hidden unmet housing needs for this special population, three project sponsors will share how they are forging solutions for our neurodiverse neighbors in both urban and rural communities.
The Integration of Affordable Housing and Healthcare Services for a Comprehensive Whole-Person Approach
Date: Friday, October 8
Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am PDT (1:30 pm -2:30 pm EDT)
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Panelists:
Mary-Rain O'Meara, Director, Real Estate Development, Central City Concern
Kerrie Bartel-Christensen, Interim Senior Vice President of Real Estate Strategy and Operations for Providence St. Joseph Health in the Oregon Region
Rose Bak, Chief Program Officer at Catholic Charities of Oregon
Matt Godt, Senior Project Manager/Business Development Manager, Walsh Construction
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Description:
Join the conversation, moderated by Matt Godt of Walsh Construction Co., as panelists from Central City Concern, Catholic Charities of Oregon, and Providence St. Joseph Health Oregon discuss how the integration of comprehensive care for the whole person and safe, stable shelter can successfully address the problem of chronic homelessness in communities. Health can’t happen when people don’t have safe and stable homes. To improve health outcomes, the organizations aimed to build affordable housing combined with onsite health services for lower income working people, including those who have experienced homelessness. Creating a comprehensive whole-person approach involves providing direct access to housing, which supports lifestyle change; attainment of income through employment and/or accessing benefits; integrated health care services that are highly effective in engaging people who are often alienated from mainstream systems; and the development of peer relationships that nurture and support personal transformation and recovery.
Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley: New legislation championing affordable homeownership and ending homelessness
Friday, October 8
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm PDT (3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT)
PRESENTERS
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
Madison Moskowitz, Domestic Economic Policy Advisor, Office of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
Matthew Traylor, Housing Policy Advisor, Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
DESCRIPTION
Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley join us to explain new legislation they have introduced designed to address America’s crisis of housing availability and affordability by reducing the shortcomings of current housing policies and funding levels. After brief comments, the Senators’ policy staff will join for Q & A. Senator Ron Wyden’s DASH Act will make a generational investment to end childhood homelessness and tackle the housing affordability crisis by issuing Housing Choice Vouchers to all families with children; greatly increase the production of deeply affordable housing for families exiting homelessness and reform the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Senator Merkley’s Affordable HOME Act will invest $40 billion per year in the National Housing Trust Fund; lower the cost of housing so everyone can afford a place to live; and build an emergency housing program to deploy resources during large-scale disasters like wildfires.