Designated Offering

Housing First

Each month, we designate a particular social service organization for financial support through special collections on Sundays. This November, our special offering goes to Corvallis Housing First.

In Housing First, homeless people get permanent or semi-permanent housing before case managers begin to provide help for the clients, who often have mental health, substance abuse, or other problems in their lives. The principle behind it is that people respond better to assistance programs when they have a safe place to live. Housing First programs regard housing as a basic human right.

There are Housing First programs throughout the US, which have helped significantly in solving homelessness. In Seattle, for example, the program has taken pressure off emergency services:

• Emergency room visits decreased 34.3%
• Inpatient hospital stays decreased 66%
• Detox services decreased 80%
• Incarceration decreased 76%

In Corvallis, the two major Housing First programs are Partner’s Place and Van Buren House.

Partner’s Place provides permanent housing for 18 individuals who have been homeless for at least a year. In general, residents are expected to pay 30% of their rent from their own income. They get intensive case management for issues such as health, substance abuse, and finance.

Van Buren House has 19 rooms. It’s considered transitional housing, although residents can stay as long as they need to. Each resident has a case manager who helps with needs such as the SNAP program, getting to grocery stores, and medical appointments. The resident manager assigns chores to tenants, responds to their concerns, and supports those living in the house.

Your donations this month will help provide housing for chronically homeless people in Corvallis.