Neighborhood Partnerships

Neighborhood Partnerships, in conjunction with Oregon Thrives, is very pleased to announce a lecture event with Patrick Bresette of Demos, Center for the Public Sector.  Patrick will be joining us to offer his insights, lessons and recommendations for creating a new public understanding of the purpose and possibilities of government action.  His approaches emphasize problem-solving, long-term thinking, and a genuine concern for the common good.

This year in Oregon has been a difficult one – our residents face economic and social challenges we haven’t seen in decades, including staggering numbers of families experiencing homelessness and hunger.  At this time more than ever, we need to think more about how we as a community respond, and what we ask of our governmental systems.  Not only do we need to consider government’s role, but even more critically, how we talk and think about government. How do we move beyond partisanship and current perceptions about government? How do we reframe this conversation?

I had the pleasure of hearing Patrick speak in Seattle in July and in Washington, DC in September. He is a great speaker, with new research and insights that will help us all reframe the conversation to meet current and new challenges. I hope you can join us on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 5 p.m.

Details:

Please RSVP to Haley.

When: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Where: Northwest Natural, 220 NW 2^nd Ave, Fourth Floor, Portland OR 97209

A reception will follow the lecture.

On Thursday, October 8, 2009 Diane Yatchmenoff, Ph.D. of Portland State University’s Regional Research Institute presented the 2009 Mid-Year Evaluation Report to the Bridges to Housing Regional Steering Committee.

This report focuses on the employment experiences of participants currently in Bridges to Housing, and has several interesting results:

• 45% of heads of households are either employed, pursuing education and/or in a job training program.

• 66% of those who have been enrolled in Bridges to Housing for 13 to 18 months were either employed, pursuing education and/or in a job training program.

Unfortunately the current economic climate means that employers are less willing to consider potential employees who have poor employment history, a criminal background or other barriers to employment.  Currently, less than one in five (19%) heads of households were currently employed.    Only 14% of heads of households were engaged in a job training program – something we hope to improve on through partnerships with Department of Human Services and WorkSystems, Inc. in the coming months.

The evaluation also reveals that mental illness is the strongest predictor of unemployment: Ten percent of heads of households were currently in jobs, in contrast to 23% of those who are free of mental illness.  This is unsurprising in light of other data – those with mental illness in Bridges to Housing were previously found to be more likely to be among those with early, negative exits from the program. Unfortunately, getting consistent and on-going treatment for Bridges to Housing families is extremely difficult.  Families in Bridges to Housing enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan have both long waiting lists and time limited services for mental illness.

The report also looked at retention of families in the program:

• 92% of families remained in the program for at least six months, while 74% remained at least twelve months.   47% remain in the program for 18 months or longer. This figure includes both positive and negative exits from the program.

You can download the full report, or see other earlier reports here.

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The Oregon Opportunity Network awarded Janet Byrd a “Housing Hero” award at their Annual Awards Banquet on Wednesday night!  Congratulations to Janet for this award and recognition of all your hard work to win a dedicated, on-going source of funding for affordable housing through the Housing Opportunity Bill in 2009.

Joining Janet in receiving the award were also Phil Donovan of NW Public Affairs and Rick Crager of Oregon Housing and Community Services.

Everyone deserves a safe, decent, affordable place to call home, and thanks to Janet and the Oregon Housing Alliance, we’re moving closer to this goal here in Oregon.   Check out their accomplishments over the past six years.

In 2009 and beyond, the Housing Alliance will continue to work together to address the housing needs of all Oregonians! Everyone does deserve a safe decent place to call home.  Let’s keep working to make that vision more of a reality.  Join us today.

Neighborhood Partnerships is pleased to congratulate Janet and her co-recipients for this award, and thanks her for all of her amazing work on behalf of all Oregonians.  Congratulations!

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