The year to remember, right? Indeed. At JOIN we also see it as the year of opportunity. This is our opportunity to rebuild a system and an economy that refuses to leave people behind like the previous one did. This is our opportunity to remember that regardless of our housing situations – or lack thereof – we are human and have a right to the basic necessities of life. While COVID was and still is one of the biggest, most daunting challenges we’ve experienced as an organization, we also celebrate the fact that many in our community are finding and prioritizing community and empathy. It’s clearly demonstrated in the ways our social fabric has been unwound and demands to be put back together as evidenced by our willingness to collectively dive into the ocean that is racial justice, historic investments in homeless services (Metro Supportive Housing Services), and people working across silos. At JOIN, we choose to celebrate this moment. Through some of these initiatives, housing opportunities could become more in reach for so many who’ve been denied in the past. And for this next year, we’ll be diving deeper into what that means for us as an organization. We’re preparing to enter into a season of strategic planning. We’re excited to ask big questions about where we want to focus our impact in the next several years, how we invest our time and resources into our neighbors that maximizes their chances of long-term housing stability, and how we operationalize the giant commitments we’ve made toward racial justice. We ask you to JOIN us in that journey.
- Donate to JOIN as a catalyst donor making monthly contributions toward our daily operations, especially as demand for our work increases significantly
- JOIN us in contacting your legislators about and testifying for important legislation that will help further our work and the important journey our friends trek in achieving permanent housing opportunity:
- SB 852: – Prioritizing the mortgage interest deduction for primary residences and low to moderate income families, using the savings to boost State investments in homeless services and homeownership opportunities
- HB 2100: Amending Oregon’s statute that has legally banned over 300 houseless services providers across the state – including culturally specific providers – from hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency housing assistance each biennium.
- SB 282: A bill that helps protect families from falling into new homelessness as a result of devastating economic impacts from COVID and allocates rent assistance.
- SB 291: A bill that supports furthering housing opportunities for our justice-involved friends to maximize their success in post-incarceration life.
- HB 3115: A bill that asks us to fully recognize the humanity in houselessness allowing folks to sit and rest though they may not have a home
- HB 2991: – A bill that requires all statewide legislation to be evaluated for harms against marginalized communities.
- HB 2558: which would allow for increased affordable housing development near transit hubs, and;
- HB 2578: which would limit the Oregon mortgage interest deduction and increase revenue for a new fund to homelessness prevention and affordable homeownership opportunities.
Thank you for your support!
Katrina Holland