THE COASTAL PACKET: Third Portland housing project for chronically homeless

Thursday, May 4

Third Portland housing project for chronically homeless

Portland Press Herald - [There are] 30 new tenants at Huston Commons, Portland’s third housing development for the chronically homeless. All residents have been homeless for at least a year or had four episodes of homelessness within a three-year period, but many exceed those standards. One has spent 3,000 nights at the Oxford Street Shelter in Portland.

Huston Commons operates under a national model known as “housing first.” The goal is to first provide a stable housing environment where people can later deal with other factors contributing to their homelessness. Support services are available to the residents 24 hours a day.

Cities across the United States began to adopt this strategy in the 1990s, and Avesta opened the first program under this model in Portland 12 years ago. Now, housing first is a key component of the federal strategy to end homelessness.

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