“I’m excited! I can’t wait! I mean, I can plug in stuff. I can go to sleep. I can lock my door!” – Joshua
Most of us take these simple things almost entirely for granted. Having access to electricity. Having a place to sleep where you feel safe and secure. But, for Joshua, and the 56 other Lane County households who are moving into Bridges on Broadway this holiday season, these necessities provide a breath of fresh air, a foothold for reclaiming their lives, and a lifeline for reigniting their hope.
Bridges on Broadway is a new Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) complex, providing a rental assistance program that provides housing alongside supportive services with the goal of stabilizing the most vulnerable. In Lane County, Homes for Good Housing Agency partners with the Lane County Coordinated Entry system to identify households that qualify for PSH and to provide housing for those in our community who need it most.
Aundrea Brauniff, Outreach and Coordinated Entry Supervisor with Lane County Human Services, describes Permanent Supportive Housing as a long term housing solution that combines affordable housing and supportive services to help individuals with chronic illness or disability. She states, “We move people into the housing and then we start to work together on stabilizing. When we refer someone to Permanent Supportive Housing, what we’re looking at is not the need for rental assistance, but it is the need for those supportive services in order to stay housed.”
Permanent Supportive Housing is one of the many types of housing and wrap-around support available in Lane County to low-income households who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness, and it plays a vital role in solving the homelessness crisis. These individuals have been struggling with complex disabilities that can make finding and keeping housing nearly impossible – they have goals to build stability but need their community to circle around them in support of those goals. In instances like these, PSH is an essential, life-saving housing and services intervention.
Bridges on Broadway, or The BOB, joins two other existing PSH developments in Lane County, The Nel and The Commons at MLK, to provide this vital assistance to the community. Bridges on Broadway initially began with Lane County’s purchase of the Red Lion Inn utilizing grant funding provided by the Oregon Community Foundation, which became Project Turnkey, an emergency shelter project providing temporary housing for people who lost their homes during the Holiday Farm wildfire. In 2023 the project was awarded PSH funding by Oregon Housing and Community Services and Lane County partnered with Homes for Good Housing Agency to convert the former hotel rooms into Single Room Occupancy PSH units. Every step of the way, the Bridges on Broadway project has been a collaborative community effort, with multiple government agencies, shelters, providers, and non-profits playing a role in its successful launch.
And now, the people who will benefit from this housing are moving in! U.S. Veteran, Greyson S is adapting to the transition of going from being chronically unhoused to housed. This can be a challenging and tricky experience for many. Greyson has been in his new apartment at The BOB for approximately 2 weeks now. He had been living on the streets of Eugene for about 4 years when he got a hut with Community Supported Shelters through the City of Eugene Community Court Program. Once sheltered, Greyson was able to get a Front Door Assessment done with his service navigator and receive the supportive services he needed to go from housing referral to housing. Greyson is grateful for the opportunity. He shares, “When I close the door, it feels like home. I make it my home, as best I can. It’s a good feeling… at the end of the day. Knowing that I’m here and not out there. It’s a step. Something that I intend on continuing on. To get better. To be better.”
Funding Challenges for PSH and Homeless Services in Lane County
Despite the success of new permanent supportive housing projects, funding for supportive housing and homelessness services in Lane County is under significant strain. Recent federal and state funding changes have forced Lane County and local providers to reassess or reduce planned permanent supportive housing capacity and shelter-related supports.
According to local housing officials, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revised its Continuum of Care (CoC) funding rules for 2025, capping permanent housing project funding at about 30% of Tier 1 grant funds — a steep drop from the roughly 85–90% funding share communities like Lane County previously relied on. This shift has forced county planners to cut or scale back an estimated 180 planned permanent housing units and prioritize a smaller number of projects under a compressed application timeline.
At the same time, state funding allocations for homelessness services fell short of expectations, leaving Lane County with roughly $3.4 million less in shelter and housing support than planned. This shortfall has resulted in fewer year-round shelter beds (about 60 fewer) and reductions in case management and other housing exit services, which are vital for moving people into long-term housing.
These funding shifts illustrate a challenging context for both existing supportive housing programs and future expansion, even as PSH models continue to show strong outcomes in reducing chronic homelessness.
