Find Housing

We recognize that for many people in our region, finding a safe and affordable place to live is extremely difficult. HDC does not operate housing or provide housing-referral services. However, if you need affordable housing or emergency shelter, these resources may help guide your search.

 
 

211

The referral specialists at 211 can help you locate private and public health and human-service agencies that provide affordable housing, emergency shelter, food assistance, rent assistance, and other resources in your area. (The 211 system works across the United States, like 911.)

  • Connect with a referral specialist by dialing 211, emailing help@211.info.org, or texting your zip code to 898211. Calls are free—they won’t run down your cell phone minutes—and referral specialists are available Monday through Friday from 8am to 6pm by phone (from 9am to 5pm by text).

  • Search directly for services in your zip-code area by pointing your web browser to www.211.org.

  • Access emergency shelter 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by dialing 211. Individuals and families will be prescreened and, if eligible, connected to a central wait-list of area shelters.


Housing Authorities

For income-eligible households, housing authorities provide low-cost rental housing and rent assistance through federal programs such as the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program and the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. Demand for these resources is high, and wait lists are often closed for long periods. However, some housing authorities allow you to sign up to receive email notification when wait-lists open.

  • Find your local housing authority by visiting housingauthoritiesoforegon.com (Oregon residents) or www.awha.org (Washington residents).

  • Multnomah County residents, sign up to receive Home Forward’s e-newsletter by visiting homeforward.org and clicking on the “eNewsletter Sign-up” button at the upper-right corner of the page.


Street Roots Rose City Resource

Published by Portland’s Street Roots newspaper, this guide offers a comprehensive list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Multnomah and Washington counties.


Housing Development Center Clients

We are not aware of any online source that offers a simple list of agencies that provide affordable housing and emergency shelter in Oregon and southwest Washington. But the Clients page of this website will get you started. It contains links to many of the region’s larger housing and emergency shelter providers.

  • Get links to websites of dozens of affordable housing and emergency shelter providers at hdc-nw.org/about/clients. (Please note that some of the organizations on this list do not provide housing or emergency shelter, and some are based outside the region.)

Have suggestions to improve this resource list? Please email comments and corrections to HDC’s communications coordinator.