Housing and Homelessness Summit

for Jackson County

Read more below…

The availability of safe, quality housing has been low in recent years, but the wildfire disaster and the COVID pandemic have severely worsened the problem. Certain groups like the Latino/a/x community, senior citizens and low-income individuals and families, have been harder hit than others. The percentage of available rentals in the county has dropped to lower than 1% of all units. Many residents are currently houseless, and many more are at risk of losing their current housing. 

Now is the time for Jackson county government agencies, community organizations, residents and other partners to come together to collaboratively solve this issue. Jackson County is home to dozens of organizations that each play an important  part in a collective solution. The Summit will highlight the work of diverse partners to create supportive housing and homelessness solutions in Southern Oregon. Through presentations and conversations, housing agencies and people with lived experience will share their ideas and create a plan for moving forward together. 

The Summit will be unique in that it will give voice to service users alongside agencies and organizations. Ultimately, the ideas generated at the Summit will be presented to the Oregon Health Authority. These recommendations will be used to inform local and state policy, and guide local supportive housing and homelessness investment decisions in the future. 

Anyone with an interest in promoting creative, collaborative solutions for supportive housing and homelessness in Jackson County. This includes individuals with lived experience, and organizations and businesses aiming to provide housing supports and services to Jackson County residents.

Sponsors 

The Summit is hosted by Jackson Care Connect, Youth 71Five Ministries, Compass House, Hearts with a Mission, and Southern Oregon Success. These organizations received a grant from the Oregon Health Authority to advance a behavioral health policy and program strategy for Jackson County. As part of this work, the group has conducted key stakeholder interviews and a survey to learn about the work of local organizations and the needs of service users. The Summit will build off of that work with the aim of informing the Oregon Health Authority about community behavioral health and housing needs.