Street Roots • Dec 1-7, 2017
News
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Oregon's rural
housing crisis
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W IK IC O M M O N S
Street view in Lincoln City, with more than 5U(J vacation
„„„a „ Zzrz-fc
siffnrsinhl? hnusinp for residents.
with walked through her doors.
“She and I sat down, and we cried a little bit.
E X E C U T IV E E D IT O R
The vast majority of people in this community
lizabeth Reyes grew up in Lincoln City.
that work in this community are easily one
The small tourist town on the Oregon
paycheck away from being homeless. This
Coast is her home, where she works full
woman had two children. The father quit paying
time and spends her money, where her children
child support. She had her own house cleaning
go to school. She’s a proud second-generation
business. She would clean the vacation rentals.
member of the Lincoln City community.
She was very good. One of her children was
“I grew up here. I lived in low-income housing
special-needs.
for quite a few years. I took some free classes on
“And then her car broke down.”
how to become a homeowner. It took a couple of
For want of $100 to pay for car parts, she lost
years before I was able to buy.”
everything, including her home, Reyes said.
But she can’t afford to live in her hometown.
In the past five to 10 years, the housing issue
Instead, Reyes and her children live in the small,
has grown from concern to a full-on political,
unincorporated community of Otis. From there,
economic and social crisis across rural Oregon.
she commutes to her job as the executive
“In a rural community, everything is
director of Family Promise of Lincoln County,
magnified, and there’s no avoiding it,” Reyes
where she works to provide shelter, case
said.
management and supportive services for
“It also forces us to deal with it, because
families and youths experiencing homelessness.
they’re not sweeping it someplace else. There’s
Last year, nearly 600 individuals used their
no pretending it’s not going on. It affects all of
services, most of them victims of high rents, low
us one way or another.”
vacancy levels, and the feast or famine of
It’s the case across all of rural Oregon. Up
seasonal wages.
the coast in Manzanita, Marzano’s Pizza closed
“A vast majority of the people that come into
its dining room service because “for the first
our program have full-time employment,” Reyes
time in 15 years, we were unable to staff our
said. “They do not have a drug and alcohol
summer crew,” according to the owners’ notice.
problem. They have simply lost their housing
“We’ve received a lot of interest from people
because they were renters.”
who would love to come to work for us, but they
Generational poverty also accounts for many
can’t find housing.”
of Family Promise’s clients, Reyes said,
In Central Oregon, Bend and neighboring
including a lack of financial planning skills or
basic savings accounts. Reyes recalled the
See RURAL, page 5
day a woman she had gone to high school
BY JOANNE ZUHL
E