According to The Heritage Foundation, Portland's homeless population in 2018 was roughly 14,000. We have a growing number of individuals becoming homeless every year and it seems that shelter after shelter either closes after opening because they cost too much to maintain or are stalled in the building phase for excessive permit cost or unforeseen construction fees.
There has to be a new affordable housing model that can sufficiently manage Portland's homeless population.
We have dozens of underutilized treatment services and housing options. We continue to tolerate people street camping or putting tents on sidewalks instead of helping to funnel potential clients into adequate services. The emphasis should be on the failure of the city to provide adequate outreach for services and consistency in enforcing laws around drug use and street camping on public property.
According to an article by JD Supra a real estate developer in the Portland area "For a three-person, extremely low-income household earning $21,990 a year, $550 rent per month is considered affordable." There are no places in any part of Portland where you can rent a studio apartment for that much. Transitions projects however have changed that fact with the release of a new housing model in a project they call LISAH. LISAH stands for low-income single adult housing.
This innovation in affordable housing is a result of something called modular construction. The units are built off-site and delivered to the construction site and the cost-saving makes the rent affordable for people who are experiencing homelessness and working even part-time. There are two distinct living styles: one is more communal where there are shared kitchen and bathroom spaces for an entire pod and the individual pays 300 dollars to have their room. They share community spaces like a living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. Insert image
The next is just an upgraded version of that same model; the studio apartment includes more living space, an in-room bathroom, and your own separate kitchen space. The new model makes the total cost of this studio one of the cheapest models in Portland coming in at 500 dollars. This new cost-effective model for affordable housing at the cheapest could aid the entire homeless population find housing and learn to effectively stay in housing long term.
I implore you as a member of the community to hold your city or state accountable to building and maintaining truly affordable housing options. As of now the city of Portland has let this population down by providing little to no realistic options for affordable housing. I ask anyone reading to push forward affordable housing initiatives that emphasize modular construction models that are both realistically innovative and affordable. Please support local agencies like the Transitions Projects in helping to provide a second chance to those in need.
To find out more about the cost of affordable housing please see:
To find out more about the LISAH model and the Argyle Garden site please visit:
Written By: Spenser Belch
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