Working Toward Housing Stability: COVID-19 Grantmaking in Action

Vital services that support our neighbors experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of losing their homes cannot shut down—even in dire times. With donor support, OCF is funding nonprofits providing crucial services even as they grapple with challenges wrought by COVID-19. Here are just a few examples of recent OCF grants that support nonprofits offering basic services and support for people currently experiencing homelessness or dealing with housing issues.

NeighborImpact (Central Oregon)
NeighborImpact helps meet the needs of more than 55,000 households each year in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The organization helps vulnerable residents fill critical gaps by providing urgently needed assistance buying food and paying rent and utilities. OCF funding provided general operating support, especially in relation to the organization’s COVID-19 response.

African American Alliance for Home Ownership (Metro Portland)
The African American Alliance for Homeownership is a non-profit community-based alliance, comprised of housing and business professionals with the mission of increasing home ownership and economic stability for African Americans and other underserved individuals by improving access to resources and education.

Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center (Corvallis)
The Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center (CDDC) serves as a vital resource hub for information, referral, and direct services for individuals who are vulnerable, homeless, or in need. Beyond meeting people’s basic needs (food, day shelter, clothing), the CDDC provides dignified advocacy, offers opportunities for community building, and supports individuals’ welfare and rehabilitation across emergency, transitional, and ongoing life circumstances. The CDDC is serving as an essential, front line service for people who are vulnerable, homeless, or in need as they navigate impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, interfacing with 80-100 people a day including many new individuals who are experiencing diminished support services elsewhere. CDDC was funded through the Oregon Community Recovery Fund.

Community Supported Shelters (Eugene)
Community Supported Shelters (CSS) offers a quick shelter option for individuals and couples who are experiencing homelessness. Their hard-shelled, insulated tent structures can be built with a group of a few volunteers with a wide-range of construction experience. The shelters offer a basic level of security and relief to people, in a timely manner, that are cost-effective and durable. CSS currently provides oversight to three communities using these structures, each focusing on a different demographic of the houseless population (people with disabilities, a site for veterans, and another site for a mixed population). CSS is supported by an Oregon Community Recovery Fund grant plus support from a donor advised fund.

Maslow Project (Southern Oregon)
Maslow Project serves homeless Jackson and Josephine County youth (aged 0-24) and their parents/guardians. The organization provides for basic needs, case management, school-based programming, advocates for students and families, operates a mobile “drop-in” unit to distribute emergency supplies and provides permanent supportive housing. As a result of COVID-19 the organization is seeing an increase in families needing services. OCF-related funding includes an Oregon Community Recovery Fund grant and support from two donor advised funds.

Portland Homeless Family Solutions (Metro Portland)
Portland Homeless Family Solutions (PHFS) provides families with shelter and services like rapid rehousing and parenting education, as well as helping families stay in their homes and never experience homelessness in the first place. The organization continues to operate its 24-hour shelter for families with children. The impact of COVID-19 and related workplace shutdowns has caused extra stress for families without homes, or families struggling to pay their rent without going to work. OCF supported PHFS through the Oregon Community Recovery Fund. Read related story.

Sisters of the Road Café (Metro Portland)
In Portland's Old Town neighborhood, Sisters of the Road Café provides area-sourced meals plus opportunities for the homeless. They have seen an increase in costs due to COVID-19 in order to continue serving their community in the safest way possible. To comply with restrictions, Sisters must maintain a supply of 200-300 to-go meal boxes and servingware daily. There is also the expense of extra equipment including hand washing stations, hand soap, hand sanitizers, cleaner, dumpsters, extra gloves, and face masks. An Oregon Community Recovery grant is helping Sisters to meet their Hot Meals Barter Program expenses and set aside funds for unforeseen costs during the pandemic. Additional support comes from an OCF donor advised fund.

Full list of OCF COVID-funded nonprofits dealing with housing and homelessness:
Dollar amounts are for OCF pooled fund grants and may not reflect advised fund and other grants.

• Ashland Emergency Food Bank, Ashland ($30,000)
• Beautiful Portland, West Linn ($4,000)
• Blanchet House of Hospitality, Portland ($50,000)
• Central City Concern, Portland ($41,500)
• Church at the Park, Salem ($24,220)
• Community Action Partnership of Oregon, Salem ($15,000)
• Community Outreach through Radical Empowerment (Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media and Education), Eugene ($5,000)
• Community Supported Shelters, Eugene ($50,000)
• Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center, Corvallis ($10,000)
• East Washington County Shelter Partnership, Tigard ($10,000)
• Eugene Mission, Eugene ($15,000)
• Family Promise of Beaverton, Beaverton ($30,000)
• Farmworker Housing Development Corp., Woodburn ($30,000)
• First Christian Church, Eugene ($1500)
• Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers, Seaside ($25,000)
• HOMEpdx Church, Newberg ($4,000)
• HomePlate Youth Services, Inc., Beaverton ($10,000)
• Hosea Youth Services Project, Eugene ($15,000)
• ImpactNW, Portland ($41,500)
• J Bar J Youth Services, Bend ($8,000)
• Janus Youth Programs, Portland ($10,000)
• Jericho Road, Redmond ($7,000)
• JOIN, Portland ($50,000)
• Josephine County Foundation, Murphy ($15,000)
• Klamath Falls Gospel Mission, Klamath Falls ($10,000)
• Nancy Devereux Center, Coos Bay ($5,000)
• NeighborImpact, Redmond ($72,600)
• New Avenues for Youth, Inc., Portland ($50,000)
• Northwest Housing Alternatives, Milwaukie ($70,000)
• Oregon Harbor of Hope, Portland ($50,000)
• p:ear (program: education art recreation), Portland ($6,000)
• Peace House, Ashland ($20,000)
• Portland Homeless Family Solutions, Portland ($40,000)
• Portland Rescue Mission, Portland ($25,000)
• Project Homeless Connect Washington County (Sonrise Baptist Church), Hillsboro ($10,000)
• Rahab’s Sisters, Portland ($2,500)
• Reach Out NP, Bend ($5,000)
• Redemption House, Prineville ($10,000)
• Rogue Retreat, Medford ($50,000)
• Rose Haven, Portland ($10,000)
• Shepherd's House, Bend ($20,000)
• Sisters of The Road Café, Portland ($7,090)
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Rogue Valley District Council, Medford ($50,000)
• St. Francis Shelter, Salem ($4,800)
• St. Vincent de Paul, Our Lady of the Valley, Grants Pass ($40,000)
• Stone Soup Corvallis Inc., Corvallis ($10,000)
• Street Roots, Portland ($10,000)
• The Curry County Homeless Coalition, Gold Beach ($5,000)
• The Giving Plate, Bend ($30,000)
• The Maslow Project, Medford ($80,000)
• The Shepherds House, Bend ($10,000)
• Transition Projects, Portland ($50,000)
• Union Gospel Mission, Portland ($10,000)
• United Way of Lane County, Springfield ($45,000)
• United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley, Salem ($49,000)