MCCAC Awarded $3 Million to Address Houselessness

Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC) has been awarded $3,123,616 to support regional efforts to address houselessness and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. MCACC also recently took over management of the houseless tiny home shelters located on Bargeway Road in The Dalles.

“Thanks to funding from Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), through the federal Emergency Solutions Grant COVID-19 (ESG-CV) program, MCCAC was able to bring multiple organizations together and build a collaborative application for these much needed resources.” said the MCACC press release.

The funds will help provide housing stability through regional shelters, housing payment assistance and culturally specific services to communities of color and our native community members. The community based organizations participating in the collaborative include The Next Door, Nch’i Wana Housing, the Oregon Human Development Corporation, Hood River Shelter Services, Bridges to Health and the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority.

“This is a huge win as we work to advance equity and provide housing stability to our most vulnerable community members,” said Kenny LaPoint, MCCAC Executive Director. “I am proud to be a part of this collaborative effort to serve our community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“These funds will go a long way to address the housing needs of our native friends living on and near the Columbia River,” said Debra Whitefoot, Director of Nch’i Wana Housing. Nch’i Wana Housing is an emerging non-profit focusing on the housing and community development needs of the native community residing in the Gorge.

This infusion of new funding comes at “just the right time as many of our friends and neighbors have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic” said the MCACC press release. “With the statewide eviction moratorium set to expire on June 30th, 2021 and houselessness continuing to wreak havoc on vulnerable community members, a collaborative, solutions-oriented approach is necessary.”

“Strong collaboration, led by equity, is the driving force behind our work in the Mid-Columbia region,” said Janet Hamada, Executive Director of The Next Door, Inc. “We must work together to address the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on the native community and people of color.”

Some of the funding could also go towards operating a houseless shelter year-round, allowing for increased stabilization of the local houseless population. The “Pallet Shelter” tiny homes on Bargeway Road seem to be one of the obvious candidates for a year round shelter operation. Since operation began this winter, the shelters have already helped stabilize and transition at least 7 people into permeant housing, assisted 5 people in obtaining steady employment, and have had 4 people receive Housing Choice Vouchers for the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority. Showing an incredibly high success rate in a short amount of time.

The Dalles Police Officer, Captain Jamie Carrico said “We’ve used these shelters for emergency situations, inclimate weather, and people in crisis. The thing with the pallet shelters is there is at least a stability there, that the people using the shelter have. Darcy has been more than gracious in helping us out and helping these people in crisis.”

However city zoning restrictions may prevent this from being possible. The current site where the shelters are operating was only temporarily zoned as a shelter as part of an emergency workaround. The emergency rezoning was done in the light of the cold weather and covid-19 pandemic limiting the number of people who could stay at The Dalles Warming Shelter (St. Vincent de Paul) in downtown The Dalles. MCACC has said they are working together with the City to see how the zoning issue might be addressed.

More information will be available at tonight’s The Dalles City Council Meeting, a recording of the meeting will be available here.

More CCC News housing articles:

A Day in the Life: Houseless in The Dalles
Priced Out: TD Housing Hard to Come By
TD Home Prices Shoot Up as Housing Stock Dries Up
TD Council Triples the Number of Houseless Shelters in Split Decisions
TD Shelter Village Taking Shape Fast