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 was approximately 20 percent more than the people contacted during the 2021 PIT Count the year prior. The…
Category: Polk County
People Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Health Awareness Month
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…
Coordinated Community Plan to End Youth Homelessness
Marion and Polk counties are on a mission to prevent and end youth homelessness. The community is committed to making youth homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. Six months after learning that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a $3.7 million dollar Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP) grant to the Marion-Polk region,…
Salem adopts resolution supporting regional Continuum of Care
Monday night, by unanimous consent, the Salem City Council adopted Resolution 2019-17, supporting the formation of a regional CoC. From the staff summary: Analysis of the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC) structure has concluded that a Regional Continuum of Care (CoC) structure consisting of Marion, Polk, and possibly Yamhill counties, offers the potential for…
Polk County Commissioners agree to support forming a local CoC
Polk County Commissioners Ainsworth, Pope and Mordhorst have given “consensus agreement” to a plan to re-form the local Continuum of Care that ceased to exist when Marion and Polk counties joined the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care in 2011. The Commissioners made their decision following an hour-long presentation by Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments Executive…