Correction: “At a moment when the high cost of housing is making it difficult for people to get by, state investments and local leadership are making life more affordable for renters of today and tomorrow,” said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell.

Nine Peaks adds workforce housing in one of Oregon’s highest-cost communities

SALEM, Ore. — More than 40 new homes are opening in Bend, providing more housing opportunities for people and families as Central Oregon continues to grapple with housing costs that have made it increasingly difficult for many workers to live in the communities they work.

“At a moment when the high cost of housing is making it difficult for people to get by, state investments and local leadership are making life more affordable for renters of today and tomorrow,” said Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) Executive Director Andrea Bell.

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) joined Housing Works, Cascade Management, and community partners on Sept. 9 to celebrate the grand opening of Nine Peaks, a newly constructed affordable housing community in Bend. OHCS invested approximately $10 million in the new development, $1 million of which was Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding. LIHTC is a federal initiative established to encourage private investment in affordable housing. It provides tax credits to developers who commit to creating affordable housing for low-income households, which can be sold to investors to finance construction.

The opening comes as housing affordability continues to affect communities throughout Central Oregon. High housing costs and limited housing availability can make it harder for employers to recruit and retain workers for communities to maintain the workforce needed to support schools, health care, hospitality, public services, and other essential industries.

“I absolutely love being here. I was struggling with finding housing,” said Lisa Thomas (not her real name), a resident of Nine Peaks. “It’s a struggle to find housing in this area, so I feel fortunate. I was in tears when I was told that I was approved and able to move in. It still doesn’t feel real — being able to start all over and have a new beginning, I just really appreciate it.”

Nine Peaks includes one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, creating options for households of different sizes. The community is located near shopping, medical facilities, and schools. The homes were built in partnership with Housing Works, Central Oregon’s regional housing authority.

“Many Oregonians have to make hard decisions between housing and health care, and the Nine Peaks community was envisioned as a response to that challenge,” said Lynne McConnell, executive director of Housing Works. “Housing Works and Mosaic Medical have an aligned mission and are thrilled to see our years of work on this project come to fruition. Nine Peaks is adjacent to Mosaic’s future headquarters, a clinic, and a pharmacy, and prioritizes households with individuals with disabilities. Nine Peaks will support health and stability for our residents and the larger community.”

For OHCS, the opening also represents the tangible result of public investment in housing. The agency’s approximately $10 million investment helped turn funding into completed homes that will serve Central Oregon residents for years to come.

About Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)

OHCS is Oregon's housing finance agency. The state agency provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing for Oregonians with low and moderate incomes. OHCS administers programs that provide housing stabilization. OHCS delivers these programs primarily through grants, contracts, and loan agreements with local partners and community-based providers. For more information, please visit: oregon.gov/ohcs.

SALEM, Ore. — As communities nationwide grapple with shortages of both affordable housing and child care, a new development on the Oregon coast is bringing the two together in one place. Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) celebrated last week with local partners the grand opening of Elm Park, an affordable housing development in Florence that will co-locate an early learning child care center. This project is set to provide much needed quality care for 60 children as well as 32 affordable homes for families.

“The value and vibrancy of rural Oregon cannot be understated for a lot of reasons including its innovation and connectivity,” said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell. “There are also unique challenges to manage to make sure local ideas and innovation can be delivered. These are locally driven ideas and solutions with flexible state resources that are delivering to make everyday life better and more affordable for Oregon families.”

Elm Park Learning Center is one of nine affordable housing projects co-located with child care facilities that BuildUp Oregon is currently slated to construct across the state to help create access to two essentials of family affordability that are often difficult to find.

“Families across Oregon are struggling to find both affordable housing and quality child care,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “When those two essentials are separated, it creates daily barriers that make it harder for parents to work, continue their education, or simply stay afloat. Co-locating child care at affordable housing developments directly addresses those challenges. This project reflects our partnership with OHCS to meet families’ needs in one place, making it easier for parents to build stability while knowing their children are learning, growing, and receiving high‑quality care right where they live.”

The challenge extends beyond Oregon. A 2023 ReadyNation study estimates that insufficient care for children under age 3 costs the U.S. economy $172 billion each year in lost earnings and productivity. For working families, a lack of reliable child care can mean missed work, reduced hours, or lost income.

“Access to housing and child care are central to thriving communities and a prosperous, stable economy. As President Trump threatens core services, here in Oregon we’re expanding them,” said Governor Tina Kotek. “I’m excited to launch this site and optimize the shared space for Oregon families.”

The Elm Park Learning Center has partnered with Head Start of Lane County and Stepping Stones to open four classrooms. It will serve children aged 16 months to 5 years. The center is located in an affordable housing development with two- and three-bedroom homes developed by Our Coastal Village with Affiliate Chestnut Management LLC.

“Florence has always had a large number of people who commute here for jobs from far away,” said Our Coastal Village President and Founder Layne Morrill. “So, the need was there, especially for child care.”

Florence has been identified as a child care desert, meaning local families face many barriers to find available quality child care. The Head Start program will bring much needed quality early learning to the area. For more than six decades, Head Start’s comprehensive model – integrating early learning, health, developmental, and family support – has consistently strengthened children’s school readiness and long-term outcomes.

“This has been a project in the works for four years to address the child care desert in Florence, and lack of affordable housing for families. It was a vision, priority, and commitment by many community partners,” said Charleen Strauch, Executive Director of Head Start of Lane County.

These programs are cornerstones of Oregon’s early learning system and remain critical for all children, families, early care and education professionals, and communities are supported and empowered to thrive.

"One of the ways we can grow our state's economy is to ensure child care is accessible and available where working families live," said Rachel Langford, Director of Early Care and Education for BuildUp Oregon. "This ensures caregivers can go to work and children can receive valuable care in high quality environments in the communities in which they live."

This project received funding from Childcare Infrastructure Funds administered by Business Oregon and the OHCS Co-Location Fund administered by BuildUp Oregon. BuildUp Oregon supports partnerships between developers and providers to build new early care and education centers co-located with affordable housing across Oregon.

“The most exciting part for us is having community,” said Jesus Gutierrez, Elm Park resident. “For my 8-year-old and 1-year-old to have other children around to be friends with and have a safe place to play has been incredibly impactful for their development.”

OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell Audio Clip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JKM-tpA0rQMJhaePLAWugnjXBKv41dXX/view?usp=sharing

OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell Video Clip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wG2FBBEB5I0hPMjX_8lX28LOEKVn94Vi/view?usp=sharing

About Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)

OHCS is Oregon's housing finance agency. The state agency provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing for Oregonians with low and moderate incomes. OHCS administers programs that provide housing stabilization. OHCS delivers these programs primarily through grants, contracts, and loan agreements with local partners and community-based providers. For more information, please visit: oregon.gov/ohcs.

About the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care

The Department of Early Learning and Care’s mission is to foster coordinated, culturally appropriate, and family-centered services that recognize and respect the strengths and needs of all children, families, and early learning and care professionals. More information about DELC is available at Oregon.gov/DELC. You can also connect with DELC on Facebook or sign up for news alerts and updates.

Program provides ongoing rental assistance and services to help Oregonians avoid homelessness

SALEM, Ore. — More than 1,900 households and 3,000 Oregonians have had access to long-term rental assistance and supportive service since July 1, 2025, through an Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) program designed to help people remain safely and stably housed after exiting homelessness. The program recently expanded beyond Oregon’s more populous counties, now reaching rural communities across the state.

"Long term rental assistance is a lifeline for thousands of Oregonians. Oregonians are what make Oregon special and they should not have to face the impossible choice of fighting to pay rent or pay for other basic needs," said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell. "Rural communities across Oregon know their neighbors and their needs, and long-term rental assistance gives local partners the flexibility and resources to deliver.”

While the largest number of households have been served in Deschutes, Lane, Washington, Jackson, and Multnomah counties, the program is also demonstrating significant demand in rural Oregon. In just under nine months since expanding to counties in the Balance of State, more than 500 people have received assistance. This includes households in Curry, Benton, and Clatsop Counties, as well as Eastern Oregon communities in Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, and Wheeler Counties.

“LTRA funding enables CAPECO to continue serving households whose housing situations remain fragile and who might otherwise return to homelessness” said Claudia Limón, program director at Community Action Program of East Central Oregon (CAPECO). “By providing ongoing support and resources, we can help families maintain stability, preserve their housing, and build a stronger foundation for long-term success.

The growing reach of the program reflects an important piece of Oregon’s response to homelessness: helping people not only move into housing but remain there.

LTRA provides rental subsidies and supportive services to eligible households to increase housing access and long-term stability for people exiting homelessness. The program was created in connection with Oregon’s emergency homelessness response to ensure people rehoused through state investments could access longer-term assistance when needed rather than risk returning to homelessness.

“LTRA has made a meaningful difference for households across Wasco, Sherman, and Hood River Counties by providing the stability they need to remain housed,” said Mid-Columbia Community Action Council Housing Stabilization Manager Mitzi Mason. “It gives us the opportunity to work alongside families and individuals during that period of stability, helping them build the skills, connections, and resources they need to maintain housing long-term. We’re seeing firsthand that when people have the security of a stable home, they have the time and space to focus on the other barriers that may have kept them from being stably housed in the past.”

For some households, the difference between becoming homeless again and remaining housed can be the availability of consistent assistance after short-term support ends. LTRA can help with rent and utilities and provide supportive services intended to address the individual circumstances that can threaten a household’s housing stability.

“We have a client that received a no-cause eviction,” said Clatsop Community Action Social Service Program Manager Merrill Mathre. “We entered the client in the LTRA program, and the client was rehoused within a week and is excited to continue her college education. As soon as she has graduated and is employed, she should be sustainable.”

The program also recognizes that homelessness and housing challenges can vary greatly from one community to another. LTRA is administered regionally and gives communities flexibility to decide how best to serve eligible households based on local needs. That flexibility can be particularly important in rural Oregon, where communities may face limited rental inventories, long distances between services, and other challenges that differ significantly from those in larger urban areas.

About Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)

OHCS is Oregon's housing finance agency. The state agency provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing for Oregonians with low and moderate incomes. OHCS administers programs that provide housing stabilization. OHCS delivers these programs primarily through grants, contracts, and loan agreements with local partners and community-based providers. For more information, please visit: oregon.gov/ohcs.

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), in partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), is proud to announce the graduation of seven project teams from the 2026 Oregon Supportive Housing Institute (Institute). The Institute, developed through a partnership between OHCS and CSH, follows CSH’s nationally recognized Supportive Housing Institute model.

"OHCS’ Supportive Housing Institute is another way we are delivering on our commitment to meet Oregon’s housing needs with dignity, urgency, and accountability," said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell. "Local leadership and state resources are showing how we can make life better and more affordable for everyday Oregonians."

Through the Institute, project teams receive intensive training, technical assistance, and cross-sector collaboration to help create and advance permanent supportive housing (PSH) projects that combine affordable housing with supportive services. This type of housing supports people exiting homelessness with some of this year’s projects focusing on serving specific populations such as those experiencing severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI).

The SHI is a key part of building more PSH housing units statewide, and 57 teams have completed the Institute so far. These teams have successfully applied and received OHCS funding for the creation of 930 PSH units. 

"CSH is delighted to see our seventh cohort graduate from the Oregon Institute,” said Deborah De Santis, president and CEO at CSH. “Over the years we've watched the Institute become a true community building effort focused on creating much needed affordable and supportive housing for Oregonians facing complex barriers to housing. The intentional investment these projects make in developing housing with supportive services is built on a proven, cost-effective approach that helps individuals and communities thrive now and well into the future."

This year’s cohort represents a diverse range of communities, including Tribal members and rural and urban areas throughout the state. These projects are expected to move into development over the next couple years, with support from OHCS and other funding partners. Watch this video to learn more about each project.

2026 SHI Graduates and Their Projects

Learn more about the Supportive Housing Institute and Oregon’s efforts to end chronic homelessness.

About Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)

OHCS is Oregon's housing finance agency. The state agency provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing for Oregonians with low and moderate incomes. OHCS administers programs that provide housing stabilization. OHCS delivers these programs primarily through grants, contracts, and loan agreements with local partners and community-based providers. For more information, please visit: oregon.gov/ohcs.
 

About the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) advances affordable housing aligned with services by advocating for effective policies and funding, 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 512,500 units of affordable and supportive housing and invested more than $2.2 billion in communities. 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.