Geography: Oregon

About the Institute

CSH and the Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) are excited to announce their partnership for the 2025 Oregon Supportive Housing Institute. The 2025 Institute includes sessions aimed to address the statewide need for permanent supportive housing.

Over the course of five months, the Institute will provide targeted training and technical assistance that will result in a supportive housing project development proposal. Teams are comprised, at minimum, of a developer partner, property management partner, and a supportive services partner. Teams are strongly encouraged to also include a person with lived experience. The Institute will create a strong foundation for new supportive housing projects and help build strong teams equipped to navigate the complex process of developing housing with supportive services.

Application Deadline: 11:59PM on March 7, 2025

How to Submit

Submit an electronic copy of the application and the attachments in PDF form to CSH by email to: lori.gutierrez@csh.org. You will receive a confirmation that your application has been received; if you do not receive confirmation of receipt within 24 hours from sending, please send an email to lori.gutierrez@csh.org.

Informational Webinar

An informational webinar will be held on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. PST for prospective respondents to this application.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Jesse Dean for CSH, Jesse.Dean@csh.org or 347-931-0132

New York, NY (October 23, 2024) – CSH, a national nonprofit intermediary and Community Development Financial Institution that advances supportive housing, today announced it has been awarded a $400,000 multiyear U.S. Bank Foundation Opportunity Fund grant. The grant will be used to expand the CSH Redesigning Access to Centering Equity Initiative in Oregon and Washington to build the capacity of affordable and supportive housing developers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) to create up to 195 new units of affordable housing, of which 83 units will be supportive housing.

“With this grant, participating BIPOC developers in Oregon and Washington will receive financial support and a range of training and technical assistance. Taken together, this will build their organizational capacity to build and operate high-quality, affordable and supportive housing for the long term,” said Brigitt Jandreau, Chief Lending Officer at CSH. “We are grateful for the generous support from the U.S. Bank Foundation that will help us continue investing in BIPOC-led developers to create critically needed affordable and supportive housing.”

“Expanding access to affordable housing and affordable housing capital helps children, families and communities thrive. Supporting organizations like CSH means more people will have more options for finding a safe, stable place to call home,” said Erica Opstad, head of community affairs and managing director of the U.S. Bank Foundation.

CSH is at the forefront of advancing affordable housing aligned with services, a proven approach to help people facing complex barriers to housing find stability and thrive. With the generous support of a past grant from the U.S. Bank Foundation, CSH has helped increase the production of high-quality supportive housing in San Diego, Orange Counties, and Nevada.

In 2021, CSH launched the Redesigning Access to Centering Equity Initiative (RACE) to address widespread underrepresentation among affordable and supportive housing developers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). In contrast, BIPOC individuals are disproportionately represented among those experiencing homelessness and in institutional settings.

The U.S. Bank Foundation created the Opportunity Fund in 2023 to support organizations working to increase wealth-building opportunities for underserved communities, including low- to moderate-income communities, rural communities and communities of color. The fund currently prioritizes grants toward community development financial institutions (CDFIs); small business technical assistance and business incubators; affordable housing development; homeownership and down payment assistance; and digital access and economic development in rural and Native American communities.

“This funding is critical to helping CSH advance its goals to promote thriving, equitable communities,” said Alexis Butler, Director of the RACE Initiative. “With this grant, we will advocate to reduce barriers for BIPOC developers to access financing needed to fund, develop, maintain, and operate supportive housing in the long term and eliminate systemic barriers to equitable access to affordable housing and capital.”

ABOUT CSH

CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) advances affordable and accessible housing aligned with services by advocating for effective policies and funding, equitably investing in communities, and strengthening the supportive housing field. Since our founding in 1991, CSH has been the only national nonprofit intermediary focused solely on increasing the availability of supportive housing. Over the course of our work, we have created more than 467,600 units of affordable and supportive housing and distributed over $1.5 billion in loans and grants. Our workforce is central to accomplishing this work. We employ approximately 170 people across 30 states and U.S. Territories. As an intermediary, we do not directly develop or operate housing but center our approach on collaboration with a wide range of people, partners, and sectors. For more information, visit www.csh.org.  

SALEM, OR | November 1, 2021 – The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) today announced the results of a statewide analysis that examined the need and pipeline for housing and services for youth experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Unique in the study was a comprehensive effort to recruit and engage youth across the state with lived experience of homelessness to inform and design housing and services programs that may receive state funding.

The report offers recommendations to state lawmakers for youth-specific housing interventions, housing and services. The project was born from the 2020 session of the Oregon State Legislature after a proposed bill requested a study to understand better the level of appropriations required to address housing and service gaps statewide for young people. Presenters at the Statewide Symposium on Youth Experiencing Homelessness Programing (YEHP) held on Friday shared the report titled, Oregon Statewide Homeless Youth Needs Assessment.

“We appreciate the work that CSH has done to engage with community partners across the state, as well as with youth and young adults who have experienced, or are currently experiencing, housing instability and homelessness,” said Dan Haun, director of the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Self-Sufficiency Program. “ODHS will use the results and recommendations from the statewide assessment to inform our ongoing efforts towards supporting youth in our Oregon communities.”

“We applaud ODHS for their leadership and collaboration throughout this project. The project serves as a model for other states on how to engage the voices of youth with lived experience when designing housing and service programs that better utilize public resources to address the reality of youth homelessness,” said Annie Bacci, Director, Mountain West at CSH. “We are excited that this assessment will inform new appropriations from the 2021 legislative session,” Ms. Bacci added.

The needs assessment required a comprehensive system modeling process that 1) outlined the “optimal” housing and services array across five regions to estimate the statewide level of need; 2) completed a statewide financial model outlining the costs of identified housing and services needs from the regional system-modeling; and 3) provided a summary report and recommendations on the findings of the needs assessment.

CSH worked with ODHS to recruit critical stakeholders from state systems in juvenile justice, child welfare, education, healthcare and homeless system partners. They also conducted an intensive effort to recruit and engage youth. CSH then segmented the youth into groups under 18 and 18-24 to address the needs specific to each age group. CSH arranged to compensate the youth for their time and expertise.

“We led each regional team through a process of mapping out an ideal system for ensuring youth had the lowest barriers to safe and affordable housing and the services they would need to thrive. We are most excited that these youth leaders are still engaged and have begun the process of forming a statewide youth advisory board that will work with leaders to design supportive housing and services,” said Ms. Bacci.

The report is available on the ODHS Runaway and Homeless Youth website or can be viewed by visiting the direct link: https://www.oregon.gov/dhs/CHILDREN/Homeless-Youth/Documents/CSH-YH-Needs.pdf

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About CSH

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is the national champion for supportive housing, demonstrating its potential to improve the lives of very vulnerable individuals and families by helping communities create more than 385,000 real homes for people who desperately need them. CSH funding, expertise and advocacy have provided $1 billion in direct loans and grants for supportive housing across the country. Building on 30 years of success developing multiple and cross-sector partnerships, CSH engages broader systems to fully invest in solutions that drive equity, help people thrive, and harness data to generate concrete and sustainable results. By aligning affordable housing with services and other sectors, CSH helps communities move away from crisis, optimize their public resources, and ensure a better future for everyone. Visit us at www.csh.org.

About ODHS Runaway and Homeless Youth Program

The Oregon Department of Human Services’ Runaway and Homeless Youth Program is responsible for coordinating statewide planning for delivery of services to youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Learn more at https://www.oregon.gov/dhs/CHILDREN/Homeless-Youth/Pages/index.aspx

CSH MEDIA CONTACT:
Jesse Dean
Director, Strategic Communications
Email: jesse.dean@csh.org
Phone: 347-931-0132

ODHS MEDIA CONTACT:
Jake Sunderland
Press Secretary, Office of Communications
Email: Jake.Sunderland@dhsoha.state.or.us

For Immediate Release, June 1, 2021

PORTLAND, OR | A groundbreaking analysis revealed that supportive housing reduced crisis responses, jail bookings, and public costs for individuals who frequently cycled through the justice and emergency health systems. The analysis was conducted through a joint effort with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Health Share of Oregon, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, and the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council.

The FUSE (Frequent Users Systems Engagement) methodology represents the first time that the homeless and housing, health and justice sectors in Multnomah County came together to share data. The effort resulted in a comprehensive, cross-sector analysis that showed the impact supportive housing has on people who experience homelessness and have complex needs. CSH led the coordination necessary for this effort based on its national FUSE initiative that integrates data and systems engagement to determine if people who often cycle through jails, shelters, hospitals and other crisis services could benefit from supportive housing.

“The Multnomah County FUSE effort was one of the most dynamic systems work that CSH has seen. The findings are revealing and timely, just as some voices in Portland and municipalities across the country are advocating for more public investment in emergency shelters rather than supportive housing. The data could not be more crystal clear that supportive housing is a more effective, lasting and fiscally responsible solution to homelessness,” said Deborah De Santis, President and CEO at CSH.

“The FUSE analysis offers the strongest evidence so far that combining accessible housing with supportive services is a potent, cost-effective strategy for helping our neighbors break the cycle of homelessness to find lasting safety, stability and wellness. This is the approach that drives the ways in which Multnomah County serves people experiencing homelessness, transforming the lives of thousands of people who can now go to sleep in homes of their own with the assurance that they have the support they need to stay in it. And thanks to the Supportive Housing Services measure that voters passed last May, we look forward to scaling up these solutions to finally meet the level of need in our community.” Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury

James Schroeder, CEO at Health Share of Oregon said, “The FUSE initiative for supportive housing represents exactly the kind of cross system collaboration and innovative thinking needed to address a crisis of this scale and size. At Health Share of Oregon, we believe that health equity can be achieved by addressing social determinants of health and integration. Housing status is an incredibly powerful social determinant. Supportive housing not only creates better health outcomes, but now we can also clearly see how it directly reduces health care costs, jail bookings, emergency room visits, and more.”

Highlights of the study include:

• With supportive housing as an intervention, there were more than:
  • 5,000 fewer avoidable emergency department visits,
  • 400 fewer jail bookings,
  • 50 fewer inpatient psychiatric stays.
• If all chronically homeless individuals in the study (n = 1,138) either avoided or ended their experience of chronic homelessness with supportive housing, $10.2 million would be realized in Medicaid savings.
• Racial disparities were observed across communities and across system indicators. The greatest disparities were for people identifying as:
  • American Indian/Alaska Native
  • Other/Multi-Racial
  • Black/African American

Nationally, CSH has been involved in FUSE in more than 35 communities. Each is distinctly based on the systems engaged in the effort, focus populations, and identified programmatic and policy needs.

The FUSE analysis in Multnomah County concluded that making equitable investments in long-term solutions, such as supportive housing, showed a significant decrease in systems uses. For more information about the FUSE analysis, please click here to access the attached summary and contact a media representative to request a copy of the full report.

About CSH and FUSE

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is the national champion for supportive housing, demonstrating its potential to improve the lives of very vulnerable individuals and families by helping communities create more than 335,000 real homes for people who desperately need them. CSH funding, expertise and advocacy have provided $1 billion in direct loans and grants for supportive housing across the country. Building on 30 years of success developing multiple and cross-sector partnerships, CSH engages broader systems to fully invest in solutions that drive equity, help people thrive, and harness data to generate concrete and sustainable results. By aligning affordable housing with services and other sectors, CSH helps communities move away from crisis, optimize their public resources, and ensure a better future for everyone.

About Health Share of Oregon

Health Share of Oregon is the state’s largest Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO), serving OHP members in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. Our mission is to partner with communities to achieve ongoing transformation, health equity, and the best possible health for each individual. Health Share was founded and continues to be governed by eleven health care organizations serving OHP members: Adventist Health, CareOregon, Central City Concern, Clackamas County, Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, Multnomah County, Oregon Health & Science University, Providence Health & Services, Tuality Health Alliance and Washington County. 

Media Contacts

Jeremy Graybill, Health Share of Oregon
Phone: 503-806-4642
Email: graybillj@healthshareoregon.org

Heather Lyons, CSH
Phone: 503-939-0083
Email: heather.lyons@csh.org

Paul Park, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury
Office: 503-988-6277
Email: paul.park@multco.us