Oregon
Bonamici talks about plans to take Oregon's Project Turnkey shelter program nationwide • Oregon Capital Chronicle
PORTLAND – An innovative Oregon program turned $125 million into nearly 1,400 new shelter beds across 32 facilities in 18 Oregon counties. Now, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici wants to take the state’s Project Turnkey program nationwide.
The Democratic Oregon representative was in Portland on Thursday to meet with community leaders who have worked on developing shelters and housing through Project Turnkey, a state program that launched in 2020 to add shelter space by converting motels into emergency shelters. A second round of state funding in 2022 added more types of buildings, including repurposed apartments and single-family homes, but the model remained the same: People or families coming into the shelters had their own rooms and access to services.
“Oregon really has been at the forefront in developing innovative strategies to address the housing shortage and to help people who are experiencing homelessness transition from the street into stable housing,” Bonamici said.
She introduced House Resolution 8297, the Project Turnkey Act, in May with 15 Democratic co-sponsors, including fellow Oregon Reps. Andrea Salinas and Earl Blumenauer. It would allocate $1 billion annually for Project Turnkey grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and allow grant recipients to use the money to convert vacant buildings into housing or shelter, provide direct rent support and assistance with security deposits and utility bills, contribute to down payments and repair and expand emergency shelters.
Bonamici said she isn’t counting on passing anything this year, with Congress away from D.C. for most of the rest of the year, but she’s trying to build support. She noted that she has a Republican cosponsor, Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, on a separate bill for recovery housing, and that there is a growing bipartisan awareness in Washington around housing issues.
“I’m really excited to take these stories back with me and share why this is a meaningful program,” Bonamici told participants in the town hall.
Tigard project
The Bridge to Home shelter in Tigard was the final one funded under Project Turnkey last year, said Rose Money, executive director of the Family Promise of Tualatin Valley that operates the shelter. Money from Project Turnkey, Washington County and the city of Tigard cleared the way for the nonprofit to turn a Quality Inn hotel into a shelter that can house up to 70 households in rooms with kitchenettes.
Before Project Turnkey allowed the Tualatin Valley program to buy a hotel, it was renting individual hotel rooms to house people and families. But as more people started traveling as the COVID pandemic lightened, available rooms were harder to find.
“When we were in that motel environment, the motel industry started coming back to life and people were traveling again, so our ability to secure those 40 rooms was harder and harder and harder,” she said. “We went from 40 down to 37, down to 22. And we thought, ‘What are we going to do?’ because the need was growing in the community.”
For the Urban League of Portland, which received $2.7 million to adapt a multifamily complex into seven units for women returning from incarceration, the funding meant providing stability. Two women who participated in the program are the responsible adults in their children’s lives again, and that likely wouldn’t have happened if the Urban League was limited to providing shelter in a motel or congregate setting, president and CEO Nkenge Harmon Johnson said.
“Project Turnkey for us was an opportunity to acquire an asset, because that’s important to our ability to survive as an organization and not be at the mercy of these motel owners who now know the money’s in the long term leases,” she said. “Beyond that, it gives us an opportunity to make commitments to community partners to say, ‘Hey, I can get you five beds.’ Because I know you can always fill them and I will always have them, and I’m not at the mercy of someone else. It makes a big difference.”
Longer-term plans
Most of the community organizations that own Project Turnkey shelters plan to convert them into longer-term housing, including apartments with below-market rents or permanent supportive housing that includes on-site social services.
Creating shelters and future affordable housing in existing buildings has proven to be cheaper than new construction: According to the Oregon Community Foundation, a Portland nonprofit that oversaw the development Project Turnkey, the average unit costs less than $100,000, compared to a pre-pandemic statewide average of $226,000 and a nearly $375,000 cost per unit for affordable apartments funded by Portland’s 2016 housing bond.
But retrofitting buildings also brings some challenges, not all of which can be solved with money from state or local governments. Jes Larson, assistant director of Washington County Housing Services, said one glaring example is sprinklers.
“These are great, ready-made buildings that have immediate shelter for our community, that sometimes don’t meet code in really big expensive ways, like required sprinkling systems,” Larsen said. “And that wasn’t a part of the original Project Turnkey plan. It’s not a part of the flexible homeless services dollars that I get to work with in Washington, so we have to figure it out.”
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A lot of conclusions could be drawn from Oregon’s big win over Iowa on Saturday. Calling them a “paper tiger” is not one of them.
There is a bizarre opinion among some members of the national media and opposing fanbases that the Ducks haven’t played anyone. Apparently, September 27th was so long ago that it has completely left their memories.
Oregon has faced three ranked opponents so far this season. They have come away with two wins and a close loss to the #2 ranked Indiana Hoosiers at Autzen. They have faced injuries, torrential downpours, and nationally recognized hostile crowds… but I guess that’s not enough.
Oregon is a Paper Tiger?
They are if you believe Will Brackus of CBS Sports. He wrote, “Oregon will be exposed when it has to match up against one of the 12 best teams in the nation.” This is an interesting opinion. Was Oregon “exposed” against Indiana?
Offensively the Ducks certainly struggled in that game. Defensively they held the Hoosiers to 111 rushing yards and 215 passing yards. This is a team that’s currently averaging 232 yards on the ground and 255 yards for the air. They are 6th in the nation with 487 total yards of offense per game. Exposed?
Brackus continued, “The Ducks don’t have the best résumé thus far. Their admittedly gritty win on the road against No. 20 Iowa Saturday was their first triumph against a ranked team all season.”
I guess in an alternate universe the Ducks faced the #3 ranked Nittany Lions in a white-out at Beaver Stadium. They pulled off a massive win, in overtime, over a top 5 team on the road. They did it in an environment that everyone said was arguably the toughest in college football. That means nothing now, apparently.
His final statement was, “Oregon has done nothing to show that it will compete well on a national stage.”
This Team has Shown Nothing?
We could debate if you think the Ducks haven’t shown enough to prove they’re a true contender this season. To think that they have done nothing to show that they would compete well on a national stage is ludicrous.
Right now the Ducks are the 13th best offense, averaging 471 yards per game. Their passing has fallen off a bit because of weather and injuries to key positions. Their run game, however, is 6th in the nation averaging 240 yards per game.
Against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they put up 261 yards on the ground, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. This was the most total yardage that Iowa has given up since 2022. More impressively, it was the most yards per carry since 2014.
The Hawkeyes entered the game as the 3rd best defense in the nation in total yards allowed per game. They were 5th in passing yards allowed and 4th in total yards allowed. They had the 10th best run defense as well. This team was no pushover and it was on the road in the rain.
The Ducks are a physical, run first offense right now. They’re grinding out opponents and imposing their will in the trenches. This is not the Oregon Ducks of 15 years ago. The rest of college football has not woken up to that fact yet.
The Ducks have an Elite Defense
Even if you’re not ready to concede that Oregon has a solid offense, their defense is truly elite.
The Ducks are currently ranked 3rd in overall yards per game. They are #1 in passing defense, allowing only 126 yards through the air. Oregon is also 6th in points allowed per game at 14. They absolutely have a defense that could win a national championship right now.
PFF grades them as the 15th best defense but gives them the 4th best coverage grade in the nation (92.1). They are just barely behind Ohio State (92.2) and Alabama (92.3) on the season. The Ducks have been a no-fly zone for most of the season. They had a couple lapses against Iowa but overall teams have had a very difficult time throwing the ball.
This is not going to be an easy out for any team… regardless of their ranking.
AP Voters Still Doubt Them
Despite beating one of the best defenses in the country, Oregon fell in the AP poll on Sunday. It was clearly much more impressive that Ole Miss defeated The Citadel Bulldogs 49-0 at home. Those late season FCS opponents are always a good litmus test for how legitimate a team is in the rankings.
Oregon dropped to 7th in the AP, but at this juncture this ranking is completely irrelevant. The only ranking that matters are the playoff rankings and we won’t know those for a couple days. Funny enough, the coaches poll kept the Ducks at 6th.
With #7 BYU losing to #8 Texas Tech, and Oregon defeating the #20 ranked Hawkeyes, it’s likely that the Ducks will move up into the top 8. This is a good spot, as it would secure Oregon a home playoff game as long as they win out.
One thing to keep an eye on is USC for the rest of the season. The Ducks play the Trojans at home in a couple weeks whicch will most likely will be the final ranked team on their schedule. Washington dropped to Wisconsin at home on Saturday and will assuredly fall out of the rankings.
Thanks to some special teams heroics, No. 9 Oregon slid past No. 20 Iowa, 18-16, on Saturday — a finish that left Ducks head coach Dan Lanning anything but calm.
Lanning admitted as much after watching kicker Atticus Sappington drill a 39-yard field goal in the rain with seven seconds left to seal the win. Truth be told, the redshirt senior’s composure in the clutch may have exceeded that of his head coach.
“If you want the truth, I was pretty nervous,” Lanning told reporters. “I’m nervous for him because it shouldn’t come down to that moment for Atticus. That guy’s going to feel an unbelievable amount of pressure, however that goes. But, I’m really proud that he’s able to handle a moment like that.”
By now, it’s no secret that it takes a special kind of focus for kickers to lock in and deliver under pressure. Recreating those moments in practice is one thing, but as Lanning put it, “there ain’t nothing like 70,000 fans.”
“Seven seconds left, having to kick that kick. Can’t recreate that in practice, and Atticus handled that like a champ,” added Lanning.
The nail-biting kick capped a game in which Oregon jumped out to a 2–0 lead on a wild safety, then trailed 16–15 after an Iowa touchdown with 1:51 left in regulation. A 24-yard Dante Moore completion boosted the ensuing 10-play, 54-yard series which Sappington closed with the game winner on the road.
After narrowly improving to 8–1 overall and 5–1 in Big Ten play, Lanning’s Ducks have held their own in their second year in the conference. Still, it’s clear the experience is taking some getting used to.
“Well, guys, I guess that’s what they call Big Ten football,” Lanning said to open his postgame press conference. “What an unbelievable game.”
Oregon now turns its attention to its next Big Ten showdown — a road game at Minnesota (6–3, 4–2). Kickoff is set for Friday, Nov. 14, at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.
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The Beavs dominated on the defensive end with 14 blocks and 13 steals while holding the Warriors to 29 percent shooting from the field.
“Tonight was a fun adventure to navigate through the ups and downs of the game. It wasn’t perfect for sure, but in the second half I thought we settled in and executed. The ball moved much more freely, which is a good sign of things to come,” head coach Scott Rueck said.
Five Beavers scored in double figures, led by Lara Alonso-Basurto’s 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. She is the sixth Beav all-time to record a double-double in her debut and first since Taylor Jones in 2020.
Tiara Bolden got the Beavers going early, scoring eight of her 13 points in the opening frame to pace the Beavs to a 23-7 lead. Bolden’s strong all-around performance included seven rebounds and six steals.
A slow second quarter followed the hot first, but the Beavs entered halftime up 35-14 and Kennedie Shuler ensured they would pull away even further in the second half. The junior scored the first four points of the second half on a blow-by drive and turnaround jumper, part of a 19-0 run when combined with a 9-0 end to the second quarter. Shuler finished the day with 10 points, five rebounds, 5 assists and three blocks.
Lizzy Williamson combined with Alonso to own the paint. The seventh-year senior scored 10 points with seven rebounds in just under 15 minutes. Fellow Aussies Keira Lindemans and Katelyn Field combined for 10 more points in their first collegiate action.
Ally Schimel added 11 points thanks to a 3-for-6 day from deep, leading a sophomore class that combined for 23 points. Cloe Vecina poured in eight on 4-of-5 shooting and Elisa Mehyar added four.
Oregon State committed just six fouls in the game, their fewest since being whistled five times on December 10, 2021 against Monmouth.
The Beavers are back in action on Monday when they take on Air Force at 6 p.m. Veterans can claim free tickets to the game on VetTix.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).
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