Kimberly Young is months away from finishing a master’s degree in education.
Her five children range in age from 7 to 16. Young is a teachers’ assistant in Northwest Portland’s Chapman Elementary and, next year, hopes to become a teacher herself.
And she said that none of that would be possible if it wasn’t for federal housing assistance programs. Young lives in Southwest Portland’s federally subsidized Stephens Creek Crossing complex, which includes on-site after-school programs and a children’s center.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, visited the complex Friday and heard stories from residents including Young and a handful of other women for whom Section 8 housing vouchers provided much-needed assistance.
“It’s not our plan to sit back and get handouts,” Young told Wyden. “We just need a boost.”
Oregon’s senior senator on Capitol Hill plans to pitch legislation to alleviate homelessness for students across the country. The bill, which Wyden calls the Decent, Affordable and Safe Housing Act, would pour about $1 billion into Oregon alone, he said.
“The bottom line is to get a roof and decent shelter over the head of every child in Oregon,” he said.
Wyden’s legislation is meant to help children like Young’s and those of her neighbors who, he said, may need a leg up.
During December’s Oregon Leadership Summit, Wyden recalled stories he’d heard of one coastal district that re-routed a school bus to a state park to pick up children whose families set up camp in the forest.
“We know it’s incredibly hard to come off that experience and, just a few hours later, go to school,” Wyden said.
Kimberly Young lives at Stephens Creek Crossing and has five children, ages 7 to 17, who go to school at Wilson High and Tigard's Muslim Educational Trust. She told Wyden the childcare and programming are valuable resources for the complex's tenants.Photo by Eder Campuzano/Staff
Young relayed her experience as a teachers’ assistant in Northwest Portland’s Chapman Elementary, where she works with students experiencing homelessness and poverty. The upscale neighborhood is home to more than one shelter for families who’ve lost housing. About one in five Chapman students qualifies for free or reduced lunch, according to district figures.
“Those kids are innocent and loving and they want to learn,” Young said. “But how can they when their basic needs aren’t met?”
She was just one of several women who told Wyden that Stephens Creek, with its early childhood center and after-school programs, provided a lifeline.
Diane Ortiz was on the brink of losing the two-bedroom Northeast Portland apartment where she cared for three of her great-grandchildren and two grandchildren. She was on a waitlist for Section 8 housing for about a decade, Ortiz said.
Wyden asked Ortiz what she did to ensure the children were taken care of.
“Whatever it took,” she said.
Officials from various Portland-area housing and homelessness resources told Wyden they wanted him to ensure his legislation will include funding for services like those Stephens Creek Crossing offers. Centennial School District officials have said they are eagerly awaiting the opening of a new apartment complex with affordable units specifically set aside for families of Centennial students who have lost housing or are on the verge of doing so.
Wyden and Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran nodded in agreement as the Stephens Creek women spoke, saying their efforts tied into a safety net to help the state’s most vulnerable residents.
“Housing is health. You cannot take care of yourself if you don’t have a place you can call home,” Meieran said.
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