What Is

PATHS

PATHS stands for Partners Aligned Toward Housing Solutions. It is an advisory board that was established in rural Polk County in 2022 to coordinate and strengthen the local homeless response.

Polk County, in partnership with the Cities of Dallas, Falls City, Independence, Monmouth, Willamina, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency applied for and received a $1 million grant from the State of Oregon as part of House Bill 4123 to establish a coordinated homeless response office. The focus of this office is to address the needs of those experiencing chronic homelessness and to prevent Polk County community members from falling into homelessness. Part of the work of this board is to develop a 5-year strategic plan to prevent and address homelessness in rural Polk County.

Members of PATHS are from each participating local government and organization.

Rural Polk County 5-Year Strategic Plan

The 5-Year Strategic Plan was completed and finalized on October 19, 2023. This plan is to prevent and address homelessness.

Click here to view the 5-Year Strategic Plan

“Homelessness has declined since the Great Recession but not as much as it would have in a better functioning housing market. Oregon’s high rents make it more severe than those in other states and can lead to the growing homeless population. Like the West Coast, Oregon has not expanded its emergency shelter capacity to match the size of its homeless population. In 2018, there was the second highest rate of unsheltered homeless people. The state also had the third largest rate of chronically homeless in the U.S.”
John Tapogna, et al. (2019)
Homelessness in Oregon-A Review of Trends, Causes, and Policy Options, Oregon Community Foundation
https://oregoncf.org/assets/PDFs-and-Docs/PDFs/OregonHomelessness.pdf