As we announce the A.C.T. Now Lane coalition, it might seem odd to look back on what we’ve accomplished so far. But this group already has momentum behind it, and we’re launching with some solid wins under our belt.

Building housing—but where?

We know the solution to homelessness is housing (paired with a strong shelter system and support for people on the pathway to being housed).  We need to increase our housing production across all income levels and through the entire housing continuum. Access to safe, stable housing that is affordable is essential to supporting a pathway out of homelessness, ensuring housing choice for growing families and creating access to homeownership that builds generational wealth.

One problem we face with increasing production is the supply of land. And, there is no centralized inventory of available, buildable land throughout the community. So A.C.T. Now Lane made one. Our Housing Production Action Team, led by Homes for Good and Better Housing Together with representatives from Lane County, the City of Eugene, and a variety of businesses, including local contractors, created a GIS mapping tool to identify buildable land in cities around Lane County. We found more than 75 lots that could be sites for new housing, and we’re refining the list to locations that already have services like water and sewer, are close to public transit or major roads, and are the right size to build housing that meets the needs of the people within their community. That doesn’t mean we’re going to create affordable homeownership or rental housing in 75 places throughout the county overnight; there’s a lot of work ahead before a shovel meets dirt, including talking with the current owners to see if they’re open to selling or partnering with us. The list will get narrowed down considerably, but now we know where it might even be possible to build new housing, and that’s huge.

Hope begets hope—building skills and self-confidence on the pathway to housing

In late 2023, A.C.T. Now Lane piloted a job training program for people living in shelters, with the goal of helping them gain skills and find employment. We partnered with warehouses and industrial sewing operations to create guided training programs, and matched those opportunities with 47 shelter residents who were ready to dive in. 75% graduated from the training, and our shelter partners (including Community Supported Shelters, EveryOne Village, SquareOne Villages, and St. Vincent de Paul) have shared that trainees gained both skills and confidence—which in turn helped the shelter communities. When you see someone like you succeeding, you know you can succeed too, and hope begets hope. In fact, several graduates are now fully employed, some housed, and one of our graduates even found a job with HOPE Community Corporation building affordable factory-built homes. We’ll tell their story in a later blog post, but this is just one example of A.C.T. Now Lane’s efforts to connect people experiencing homelessness with meaningful professional skills and employment opportunities.  So far this year, 13 of 15 (87%) of shelter clients have graduated from a training program with a half-dozen more enrolled—building on the successful pilot to empower residents toward self-sufficiency.

Building this coalition

This may seem a bit self-congratulatory, but a major success is bringing together this coalition in the first place. Where else do you see the local governments sitting down with nonprofits and, importantly, business owners, digging into our most pressing challenges and working together on solutions? (If you’re shouting examples at the screen, great! But allyship is often hard to spot in the way we go about addressing community challenges.)  If there are few examples, it’s because it is hard to coordinate this vast set of stakeholders with varying (and sometimes competing) interests. We all share a desire for increased community safety and livability, more affordable options for renters and homeowners, and more people living sheltered rather than unsheltered.  Who doesn’t want to live in a place where homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring? But getting all these groups working together towards agreed-upon solutions requires each player to look beyond the status quo, let go of past grievances, and commit to action outside their comfort zones. And let’s be honest, nobody likes getting outside their comfort zone. But every member of this coalition has come to the table, agreeing to step outside their usual perspectives to consider the bigger picture and do what is best for the community rather than themselves or their organization. That in itself is a win.

I’ve worked for more than a decade to create pathways for housing stability and asset-building opportunities that create generational wealth. I’m currently the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Relationships for DevNW, an affordable housing developer and asset-building organization, and I’m intimately familiar with the barriers to making real progress on the housing crisis. I believe housing should be our North Star, that everyone deserves a safe, stable and affordable place to call home. I am excited by the real progress we’re making with this cross-sector coalition, and I hope you’ll stay tuned to see what A.C.T. Now Lane does next—and how you can be involved.

Conclusion

Homelessness is a crisis — but it’s also an opportunity to show what kind of community we want to be. One that turns away, or one that steps up. Your action, however small, helps create the kind of Lane County where everyone is seen, heard, and housed.