Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance
Serving Marion and Polk counties, Oregon
Homelessness. It’s a phrase that encompasses a multitude of stories and struggles, because homelessness is not a one-size-fits-all issue. It is a complex web of circumstances, decisions, and external factors. People can find themselves homeless for many reasons, including job loss, mental health challenges, addiction, family breakdown, or soaring housing costs. Each of these factors…
Candlelight Vigil November 9, 2023 at the Oregon State Capitol Steps
The lack of proper and stable housing puts people in physical danger. Not only are they more susceptible to diseases, but they’re also vulnerable to theft and assault from living on the streets. More importantly, mental illness, in addition to adverse childhood experiences and substance use, are risk factors for homelessness. Indeed, it’s estimated that…
Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the United States are experiencing homelessness living in shelters or on the streets — in tents, encampments or sheds. One way the federal government measures homelessness is by counting people who are sleeping on the streets or in shelters on a given night, an event known as the Point-in-Time…
A person experiencing chronic homelessness is generally defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition, who has been homeless for more than one year. It’s more common for people experiencing chronic homelessness to also deal with a certain disability, mental health condition, addiction or other debilitating conditions that restrict their ability to escape…
What does Backbone do?• Works to prevent and end youth homelessness• Advises the CoC Board of Directors on policies and practices• Supports the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program in our community• Meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays, 5:00-7:00 p.m. (includes a Zoom option, dinner if in person) Who can be on Backbone?• Youth and young…
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development released two Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for which the Alliance and other Marion-Polk region nonprofit organizations, governments, faith-based organizations, and tribal organizations are eligible to apply: the annual NOFO for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program funding and a special NOFO for unsheltered homelessness. The Request…
The Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance is a Continuum of Care (CoC). You may have heard our name used synonymously with the “Alliance” or “CoC,” because we use these terms interchangeably to describe our organization. Our official name is Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance. To shorten it we use “the Alliance,” but are categorized as a CoC…
The Point-In-Time (PIT) Count that occurred in January across Oregon’s Marion-Polk region involved volunteers, shelter staff, and outreach workers who connected with 879 unsheltered individuals and 926 temporarily sheltered individuals for a total of 1,805 people. This is approximately 15 percent more than the 1,554 people contacted during the 2021 PIT Count. The PIT Count…
Every year, millions of people around the world honor the month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. During this time, people fight the stigma against mental illness, educate the public, and advocate for change regarding various mental health conditions. How does mental health impact our local community members experiencing homelessness? Researchers agree that between…