Street Roots received funding from Meyer Memorial Trust’s Affordable Housing Initiative to develop dedicated reporting on rural housing issues. The goal is to broaden our views around housing policy to promote better understanding of the issues communities face across the state. We also highlight the common ground that we all share, and the solutions we can all get behind.
OVERVIEW
• One of the worst housing crises of our lifetime
WILLAMETTE VALLEY
• In rural Oregon, trips to food banks the new normal as housing costs rise
• Oregon bill pits housing against the environment
CENTRAL OREGON
• As population spikes, so does the housing crisis
• The jobs are there, but the homes are not
• Master builder Tom Kemper tackles region's housing shortage
• Homelessness and humanity in the juniper forests
• Prineville: 'The builders can’t even build fast enough'
• A fierce advocate for Central Oregon's homeless
• When homeless patients can't go to clinic, the clinic goes to them
• With limited shelter space, local governments weigh options for homeless
OREGON COAST
• Homelessness up close and personal in Coos Bay
• Coos County residents want to make a better first impression
• Coos Bay teachers get schooled on living with poverty and homelessness
• Tourism's coastal crunch: Vacation rentals and crowds create livability issues
• Real estate interests dominate politics
• Tillamook Creamery partners with locals to tackle area housing shortage
• Searching for shelter in Lincoln County
• Shelter: Conditions definitely apply
• Astoria nonprofit fills bellies while filling a need
• NW Oregon coastal residents being priced out of homes, study confirms
• Historic boarding house fills need for modern homelessness in Astoria
• Housing on the Oregon Coast: What about The Big One?
EASTERN OREGON
• A housing crisis in Ontario, one of Oregon's poorest cities
• A Section 8 pit stop turned long-term stay
• How Ontario became a haven for immigrant families
• A refugee family’s struggle to navigate the bureaucracy of survival
• How a refugee in Ontario helps others get the aid they need
• A refugee’s need for support as a child inspired his path
• Rural Oregon food pantries: Reflections from a photojournalist
• How rural is rural? Housing advocates want narrower definition
• The problem with that home on the range
MORE
• No, Portland's not sending all its homeless people to small Oregon towns
• Reading, writing and rural health: The complicated overlap of housing, health care and education
• Editorial: Contractor changes are essential for rural housing
ABOUT THE SERIES
In the summer of 2017, Street Roots received funding from Meyer Memorial Trust’s Affordable Housing Initiative to develop dedicated reporting on rural housing issues. Altogether, Meyer awarded 14 grants totaling $742,000 to support organizations for the next two years in raising the curtain on the state’s housing crisis and crafting sustainable solutions at both the local and state levels.
Despite Oregon’s liberal reputation, the vast majority of Oregon’s 36 counties are rural and conservative. Unlike Oregon’s bustling urban centers, many rural economies are still struggling a decade after the 2008 recession. Employment levels are still below their pre-recession peak, and youth and working-age populations are declining, further dampening the promise of future economic growth. Our hope is that this work – among all organizations – will have long-term impacts, amplifying the voices, concerns and needs of rural Oregonians.