City of Portland dedicates $8.35M to support renters

PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Portland will dedicate $8.35 million to support renters during the coronavirus crisis.

The Mayor’s Budget was approved by the Portland City Council last week.

According to the Mayor’s Office, the funds are expected to provide at least three months of emergency rent assistance to approximately 2,000 households starting in July.

The budget reallocates $4.5 million in existing federal funds for rent assistance, plus an additional $3.85 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) revenue allocated to the City through the CARES act.

Program details, including eligibility, as well as when and how the funds will be made available to the public are currently in development.

The Portland Housing Bureau is working in coordination with Home Forward, the Joint Office of Homeless Services and other Multnomah County departments, to plan for distribution of the funds.

“Our goal is to develop the best possible program design to assist communities identified by City Council as those most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color, people with disabilities, and those facing significant barriers to access,” Portland Housing Bureau Director Shannon Callahan said. “We know how much our fellow Portlanders are hurting, and we want to ensure we can do everything we can to help stabilize Portland families.”

The framework will be finalized by late June, with program implementation starting July 1, 2020.