Public trust in the local response to homelessness has never been more fragile. The steady drumbeat of news about funding challenges, shifting strategies, and uncoordinated leadership has shaped public perception, often overshadowing the real progress being made. 

Each investment in supportive housing, each shelter bed added, each individual who finds stability represents a life changed—but these successes can be drowned out by frustration over the scale of the crisis. 

The need for meaningful reform remains clear, and Metro is taking action to ensure the system is more transparent, effective, and accountable.

NEW: Metro President’s Workgroup

Under the leadership of Metro President Lynn Peterson, a new Metro President’s Workgroup is bringing together key stakeholders from across the region to rethink how we govern and oversee the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) program. 

This time-limited workgroup will establish the building blocks for a shift to a new regional governance structure that aims to create a more integrated, efficient, and accountable regional system—one that can meet the expectations of voters and the needs of our unhoused neighbors.

A New Approach to Including Provider Experience

For the first time, service provider and issue experts will be represented in the Metro President’s Workgroup through coalitions rather than as individual organizations. This shift ensures that a broader range of perspectives and community voices are part of the conversation. 

HereTogether, Welcome Home, Housing Oregon, and the Coalition of Communities of Color will each have a designated representative in the workgroup, ensuring that feedback is gathered and shared collectively. 

Our role in this effort is clear: We are committed to ensuring transparency, engagement, and a structured feedback loop between the workgroup and our broader coalitions. That means:

• Sharing timely updates from the workgroup with our networks.
• Collecting and synthesizing feedback from a broad range of stakeholders.
• Ensuring our recommendations to the workgroup reflect expert and research informed-best practices and the needs of our communities.

Our Work Ahead

The workgroup is tackling key issues to create a stronger SHS program, including: 

✔ Establishing a North Star vision for regional homelessness response.
✔ Defining clear performance measures to track progress.
✔ Improving data collection and analysis for better planning.
✔ Evaluating the financial sustainability of the program.
✔ Exploring structural reforms to enhance impact and accountability.

This work is critical, especially as budget constraints at the county level threaten to erode public confidence in our homelessness response. We believe that Metro’s commitment to reform is a step in the right direction, and we are actively working to shape a system that is more effective and sustainable.

How to Stay Engaged

The workgroup will meet bi-weekly from February through early June, and these meetings are open to the public. We encourage our partners to tune in and stay informed. The first meeting was Monday, February 24th, from 4-6 PM, and can be watched online.

We will provide regular updates, opportunities for input, and coalition-wide meetings to discuss key issues as they emerge. If you have thoughts, concerns, or priorities you want to see represented in this process, we want to hear from you. Send us an email at angela@heretogetheroregon.org.

This is a critical moment for shaping the future of SHS, and together, we can build a system that truly delivers. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for being part of this work.