Lincoln County advisory group will look at 6 companies to oversee $1 million grant to combat homelessness

An advisory board appointed to combat homelessness in Lincoln County has selected six firms to compete for the right to oversee administration of the effort.

Interviews will take place after members of the Lincoln County Homeless Advisory Board have reviewed proposals submitted by the firms.

The effort, expected to cost $200,000, is part of a larger, $400 million statewide effort to deal with homelessness, support existing affordable housing programs and help people buy their first home. The money, along with guidelines addressing how it should be spent, was part of House Bill 2143 approved by the 2022 Oregon Legislature.

Under terms of the bill, Lincoln County was one of eight counties to receive a $1 million grant. Others are Benton, Coos, Umatilla, Tillamook, Deschutes, Polk and Columbia counties.

The initial grant provides enough money to begin a two-year planning effort. After that, participating governments and organizations will need to solicit additional funds from private grants and foundations to help meet the state bill’s five-year window.

The advisory board, whose work is a requirement of the bill, includes members from all seven of the counties’ incorporated cities, as well as from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and other groups.

“You’ve not see in recent history all of the cities and the tribe coming together to work on a problem of this magnitude,” said Tim Johnson, Lincoln County’s administrator. “It’s a tremendous undertaking.”

The six firms chosen to compete for the contract are:

• Coastal Support Services, a non-profit housing organization founded in 2015. The agency provides a year-round Navigation Center, as well as a “seasonal low barrier emergency warming shelter during the winter months in Lincoln City,” according to its website.
• Kone Consulting/Eco NW, an Edmonds, Wash.-based firm with extensive experience in health and human services delivery.
• Healthy Sustainable Communities, a Wilsonville firm “with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry,” according to its website.
• The Athena Group, an Olympia, Wash.-based company that helps “Neighborhoods, governments, businesses, non-profits and faith organizations work together to solve seemingly intractable social and environmental problems”.
• Converge, a “Black woman owned social-justice consulting firm in New Orleans whose purpose is to accelerate the creation of a radically just new world, where communities of color thrive,” according to its website.
• Morant McLeod, a team of Beaverton-based advisers “who will partner with you to solve the problems that are standing in the way of your company’s growth”.

Advisory board members will score each proposal based on experience, approach and budget, Johnson said. A finalist could be chosen by Thanksgiving or earlier.

— Dana Tims/YachatsNews.com