Friday, Apr. 26, 2024
Taking a significant stride toward tackling enduring labor challenges within the homeless services sector, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, in conjunction with the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, has recently distributed $10 million in flexible workforce stabilization grants to 61 providers of homeless services. These grants are earmarked to bolster 3,520 individuals employed in the housing and homelessness services system.
Nonprofit organizations offering homelessness and housing services have grappled with persistent issues such as stagnant remuneration, elevated vacancy rates, and recruitment hurdles, exacerbated by an unprecedented demand for their services compounded by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A wage analysis conducted by the Joint Office of Homeless Services last year revealed that merely 31% of surveyed personnel within homeless services providers felt adequately remunerated to meet their basic necessities. Additionally, half of those surveyed expressed intentions to seek alternative employment within the coming year.
These grants help address one of the biggest barriers we face in responding to the homelessness crisis: longstanding workforce challenges.
Dan Field, director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services
The $10 million allocation for organizational health grants was approved by the Board of County Commissioners in September 2023, drawing from the Supportive Housing Services Measure funds carried over from the preceding fiscal year. Although this round of grants is a one-time initiative, Chair Jessica Vega Pederson’s proposed FY 2025 budget, unveiled yesterday, earmarks $10 million to sustain similar grants in the upcoming fiscal year utilizing resources from the Metro Regional Strategies Investment Fund.
By year-end, recipients will furnish reports detailing the utilization of funds — which are exclusively designated for workforce and organizational health exigencies — and will gauge two pivotal metrics: the impact of the funds on augmenting employee retention rates and, consequently, mitigating position vacancy rates.
“These grants help address one of the biggest barriers we face in responding to the homelessness crisis: longstanding workforce challenges,” said Dan Field, director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services. “We know it won’t solve the problem overnight, but this funding is a first step. We believe the grants will lead to tangible improvements for the workers providing critical services on the frontlines of our community, and in turn, allow us to better deliver needed services to the community.”
The distribution of grants to providers transpired this spring through an innovative partnership forged between the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and the Joint Office. Leveraging United Way’s infrastructure and experience in disbursing funds to community entities expedited the delivery of funds far beyond the pace feasible through existing governmental contracts.
United Way facilitated the application process and disbursed all funds to providers prior to the conclusion of March 2024 — a mere 11 weeks following the initiation of the collaboration with the Joint Office.
“Frontline organizations in the homeless service sector have always had to be creative and resourceful with limited funds,” said Dahnesh Medora, Chief Impact Office of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. “We were pleased that the Joint Office also brought a sense of creativity to this nonprofit-governmental collaboration. As a result, United Way was able to quickly disburse flexible funds to support workforce recruitment and retention.”
As the grants were conceived as a versatile means of support, all homeless service providers currently engaged with the Joint Office were eligible to apply. Applicants described their intended use of funds to support workforce recruitment and retention, along with their current vacancy and retention rates.
Frontline organizations in the homeless service sector have always had to be creative and resourceful with limited funds. We were pleased that the Joint Office also brought a sense of creativity to this nonprofit-governmental collaboration.
Dahnesh Medora, Chief Impact Office of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette
Providers shared a wide range of plans for how they will use the funds, including increasing employee compensation, creating new positions, and providing new forms of employee wellness services and support. But even with that flexibility, some potential uses were not eligible to receive grant funding, including physical space or infrastructure investments.
Of the 61 recipients of funding, 10 are culturally specific providers serving marginalized communities disproportionately affected by homelessness.
Providers will leverage the funds to address their workforce stabilization and capacity needs. This adaptable approach aligns with the policy recommendations articulated in the 2023 Joint Office wage study, advocating against a one-size-fits-all approach to provider capacity solutions, recognizing the diverse challenges and needs unique to each organization. United Way has similarly devised grantmaking programs that balance flexibility with accountability.
The grant allocation process was non-competitive, with all eligible providers meeting the requirements receiving funding.
Award amounts were determined based on the number of full-time employees engaged in housing and homeless services within each organization. Generally, the award amount for each organization was calculated by multiplying the number of full-time employees dedicated to housing and homeless services by $2,700. Organizations with five or fewer employees were guaranteed a minimum grant of $13,500.
Provider Testimonials:
“Central City Concern is very pleased to have received an Organizational Health Grant for Workforce Stabilization that JOHS and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette provided,” said Dana Kleinhesselink, Central City Concern’s Director of Development. “We’ll be using the grant to provide crucially needed funding to develop recruitment and workforce advancement strategies. Behavioral health workforce challenges have been an ongoing issue for the past several years. Finding, hiring and retaining the right staff for the right positions are essential to helping solve the homelessness crisis in our region. We’re very grateful to United Way who’s been a wonderful, collaborative partner throughout the grant process.”
“This funding has already allowed us to effectively hire and retain the staff necessary to truly empower our unhoused neighbors into employment and housing,” said Caleb Coder, Executive Director of Cultivate Initiatives. “Cultivate Initiatives is grateful to the Joint Office, United Way, and the tax-payers of the Supportive Housing Services Measure, to be a recipient of this grant."
"This funding has enabled the recruitment and retention of our behavioral health staff while supporting the development of our newly BIPOC-focused behavioral health and substance use program. These staff members will provide individual and group therapy, as well as substance use counseling, to our most vulnerable populations: houseless individuals and families, BIPOC community, houseless veterans and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Levin Manabat of Greater New Hope Family Services. "Additionally, the funding has supported essential continuing education for our behavioral health staff to ensure best practices.”
"Latino Network is excited to continue to partner with the Joint Office of Homeless Services to reduce rates of homelessness in Latine communities around Multnomah County,” said Evelyn Kocher of Latino Network. “This grant will be instrumental in helping serve people in our programs who are experiencing housing insecurity get back on their feet."
“As a small, culturally specific organization, this funding is instrumental in enabling us to thrive and support our organization in ways that are sometimes overlooked by larger agencies. We're beyond grateful for this opportunity,” said Hanna Osman and Hamdi Abdullahi from Somali Empowerment Circle. “We will be using the Workforce Stabilization Grant to support professional development for our staff. This entails enhancing skills in project management tools, undergoing housing advocacy training, and participating in conferences aimed at providing support to culturally specific organizations.”