What are the community needs?

In our community, people are faced with making tough decisions about what bills they will pay. Children in these families live in unheated homes, with no electricity, or even at risk of being evicted with their families because they are unable to pay the rent.

People needing rent and utilities assistance are increasing by the day. In mid and East Multnomah County, Human Solutions is reporting that people seeing services are lining up outside their offices hours before they open.

In Washington County, people experiencing layoffs are coming to agencies for help with rent assistance, often for the first time in their lives. Executive Director Jerralynn Ness, Community Action of Washington, talks about the huge gap between community needs and available resources.

The face of people needing help with emergency food and rent assistance has changed. Watch Rick Nitti, Executive Director of Neighborhood House:

Video interviews/editing Maileen Hamto

Help Us Help

At a time when even leadership in government and business are struggling to find solutions, we have the power as individuals to make a difference.

We face a time of great challenges, and we have the opportunity to step up and make change possible. The needs in our community are real, urgent and require immediate action.

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