Why Permanent Supportive Housing?
Crescent Court and the Joyce are two examples of how Portland's Housing Bond is working to meet the diverse needs of Portlanders—from families with children facing displacement in Outer Southeast Portland to individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in the Downtown core. While they were designed to serve very different populations, these two projects share one important element in common: they play a critical role in our local effort to address chronic homelessness through Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).
Portland's Housing Bond places a high priority on PSH, and is supporting the creation of 399 new PSH units—a critical step towards a City-County joint effort to create 2,000 units by 2028. Including those 399 units, there are 1,915 PSH units open or in development in the City of Portland.
But what is PSH, and why do we need to include it in our Bond-supported projects?
Families and individuals with disabilities and those who have experienced chronic homelessness are among those hit hardest by our region's affordable housing crisis. Permanent Supportive Housing serves these community members by pairing affordable housing with comprehensive, wrap-around services to help them maintain stable housing and connect them to the support they need to live independently. These services can include case management, behavioral health services, substance use disorder treatment, economic support, and tenancy skills.
Portland's Housing Bond supports two types of PSH models:
Dedicated PSH Housing Projects, like the Joyce, where most or all of the units are designated as PSH. These projects focus primarily on serving single adults or couples who have complex physical and/or behavioral health issues, and other service needs.
Integrated PSH Projects like Crescent Court, integrate PSH (usually less than 25% of the total units) within a building that offers a mix of housing options. PSH that is integrated into an affordable housing project tends to focus on serving households where someone has a disabling condition.
In addition to the Joyce and Crescent Court, several other Bond-funded projects will open in the next few years, creating new housing for vulnerable communities with culturally-specific PSH designed to reach and serve members from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.