Create more affordable housing

Oregon is facing an unprecedented crisis with homelessness and an urgent lack of affordable housing. It will take state, federal, and local leaders working together to help solve this crisis and to get people into safe, supportive housing. As a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Homelessness, I’m advocating for individuals and families who are housing-insecure, including the millions of Americans facing eviction or foreclosure.

To solve our housing crisis, we must immediately increase the supply of affordable housing. I’ve secured more than $6.25 million in funding to build hundreds of affordable housing units in NW Oregon. I’m also working to increase funding for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to incentivize the construction of more affordable housing. Access to a living wage job, job training opportunities, and universal health care will also help people who are unhoused.

And Congress must increase funding for behavioral health services and addiction treatment, as well as other social safety net programs that support those on the brink of homelessness.

Despite the extreme challenges of this Congress, I’m working on legislation to convert unused buildings into affordable housing, create funding for affordable housing paired with child care centers, and increase access to transitional housing for those in recovery.