1. Oregonians have a greater chance of living in poverty today than they did during the Great Recession: the poverty rate rose from 14.3% in 2009 to 16.5% in 2015. 27% of Oregon renter households have a “severe housing cost burden,” meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing and utilities. (https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/DO/shp/OregonStatewideHousingPlan-PublicReviewDraft-Web.pdf) 

2. In 2017, 1 in 5 seniors at La Grande High School dropped out. Low-income 10th grade students in Oregon who did not move during a school year from third grade on are roughly 10 percentage points more likely to graduate on time than their low-income peers who have moved within a school year.  (https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/DO/shp/OregonStatewideHousingPlan-PublicReviewDraft-Web.pdf)

3. In 2016-17 there were 243 students reported as homeless in Union County  https://www.oregon.gov/OHA/PH/ABOUT/Documents/indicators/homeless-county.pdf

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But what about the idea that building subsidized housing for low-income residents costs us all money?

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Answer: A chronically homeless person costs the tax payer an average of $35,578 per year. Costs on average are reduced by 49.5% when they are placed in supportive housing. Supportive housing costs on average $12,800, making the net savings roughly $4,800 per year.  (http://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Cost-Savings-from-PSH.pdf)

(These figures are based on reduced visits to emergency rooms and hospitals, reduced needs for services, lessened incidents of incarceration and drug abuse for permanently housed individuals, etc.)

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