Tribal Housing Block Grant: $30 million, General Fund (POP 529)
There is a lack of targeted long-term investments dedicated to Tribal homelessness and housing initiatives, even though Native Americans in Oregon are four times more likely to experience unsheltered homelessness than any other population within the state. Through intentional engagement, OHCS heard from Tribal communities that the solution is not to provide myriad grants but to consolidate our offerings into a single, easy-to-report-and-use program that honors Tribal sovereignty and recognizes that different Tribal communities have various housing priorities. This proposal led Tribal communities to recommend that the state create and fund a Tribal Housing Block Grant (THBG) program that would comprehensively address the breadth of their housing needs. As envisioned by Tribal communities, funds from the THBG could be used for:
Housing stabilization activities
- Street outreach
- Shelter or transitional housing acquisition
- Renovation and rehabilitation o Turnkey projects
- Shelter operations o Wraparound services
- Transitional and supportive housing sites
- Homelessness prevention programming
- Rehousing assistance
- Long-term rental assistance
- Capacity building
- Housing retention
- Eviction prevention
Homeownership programs
- Predevelopment and development of new homes for purchase
- Down payment assistance
- Home repairs
- Foreclosure avoidance support and resources
- Education and counseling services
Affordable rental developments
- Capacity building
- Predevelopment and development of projects (hard and soft costs)
- Fees or charges o Rental assistance
- Supportive services
- Administration
- Acquisition of propertie
Language Access – $1.3 million, General Fund (POP 523)
This investment will help OHCS fulfill its responsibility to provide everyone in Oregon meaningful access to information and resources. This includes:
- Developing a Language Access Plan (LAP)
- Offering translations and interpretation in languages other than English, including American Sign Language (ASL), for written materials, external-facing communications, and in-person and virtual public engagements
- Maintaining a robust language data collection along with ongoing community validation of language services to ensure accuracy, consistency, and cultural sensitivity
For the agency to provide language accessibility tools across all divisions, this investment will support:
- Developing, operationalizing, and maintaining an LAP
- Implementation of agencywide ASL policy to support internal and external engagement and meetings
- Continued funding of translation and interpretation services contracts agencywide
- Ongoing funding for community validation of translated materials working in collaboration with a to-be-determined set of culturally specific organizations
- Adherence to federally mandated ADA requirements for all public-facing OHCS web content by the April 2026 deadline.
Curious about the details? Review
OHCS’ 2025–27 Agency Request Budget for more information.