Yet even with poor implementation, 'it is still better than other options,' said Marisa Zapata, director of the Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative and a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University. Staffing shortages, inadequate funds, long wait times, the so-called NIMBYs and pushback tied to critiques of the 'housing first' concept are among the hurdles.

While the Catholic pilot has made headway, there are challenges that limit the supply of permanent supportive housing and the effectiveness of programs that exist. Known as permanent supportive housing, the approach incorporates rent-restricted housing with a range of voluntary support services.Ĭatholic agencies helped develop the model decades ago, and in 2020, Catholic Charities USA launched a pilot aiming to reduce chronic homelessness 20% over five years in five cities, including Portland, in part by increasing the stock of permanent supportive housing. Browning has lived there ever since and recently celebrated eight years in recovery.Īs chronic homelessness escalates nationwide, advocates and researchers say a big part of the solution is the model that transformed Browning's life. It offered affordable housing coupled with supports to help individuals remain housed, and there was no sobriety mandate. Then Browning found an apartment complex managed by Catholic Charities of Oregon. 'I couldn't get myself straightened up, so I got kicked out,' she said.

'I'd never been on the streets before and didn't know how to defend myself.'īrowning, who said she attempted to navigate her bipolar disorder with alcohol, eventually moved into housing that required sobriety. 'I was trying to stay in motels but I didn't have an ID and I wasn't on medication, so I didn't know how to function,' she said. 'When I was homeless, I would sleep on a bench with my purse, but everything got lost or stolen, even my clothes,' said the 64-year-old as she opened her vinyl blinds, letting in the fall Pacific Northwest sunlight. They are simple signs of a lived-in and thoughtfully decorated apartment, but for Sharon Browning they are also the trappings of a life rebuilt. A damp towel draped over the bathroom door. White doilies and a bouquet of artificial flowers arranged on a coffee table. A refrigerator adorned with photographs and topped with a box of Honey Bunches of Oats.

The final table poker club portland