Washington County reports progress on Metro housing bond projects and launches prevention funds

Washington County housing staff presented a quarterly implementation update on Feb. 17, reporting progress on Metro affordable housing bond projects and the supportive housing services measure and outlining next steps for prevention and preservation work.

Molly Rogers, director of Housing Services, and Jill Chen, assistant director, said Washington County directly received about $140,000,000 from the Metro affordable housing bonds — roughly $118,000,000 from the initial bonds plus about $22,000,000 in interest earnings — and that the county is working on 13 projects totaling more than 1,000 housing units. “We have met and exceeded every single target under the intergovernmental agreement for total production by 25%,” Chen said.

Chen described a Forest Grove permanent supportive housing project at 3127 Pacific Avenue (the former Jim’s Auto Repair site) planned for approximately 45–60 units, aimed at serving formerly homeless individuals and couples and involving partners such as Central Cultural and CareOregon. She said the project was accepted into Oregon Housing & Community Services’ permanent supportive housing institute in 2024 and that additional funding and best practices work remain underway.

Katie Gentry, the county’s homeless programs manager, reported that a new Hillsboro shelter opened in November and now houses about 74 people. She said the Central County Safe Rest Village is in active construction and community engagement and aims to add roughly 60 permanent pods. Gentry also said the county was awarded $10,000,000 in one‑time Metro funding to help with eviction prevention and capital gaps for projects such as Cornell Road and the Safe Rest Village.

Gentry described a homelessness prevention fund launched in January 2026; staff said they have received roughly 50 submissions so far and expect to meet a goal of serving 300 households this year when combined with recent eviction prevention funding. Chen said eviction prevention was allocated about $4,000,000 over two years (approximately $2,000,000 per year) and that the county already budgeted about $2,500,000 for homelessness prevention in prior budgets.

Commissioners asked how preservation of existing affordable units is incorporated; Chen said Metro bond rules limit bond dollars to new‑build projects and do not cover preservation, and staff noted Washington County has rehabbing or renovating nearly 800 county‑owned units but that many non‑county affordable units face expiring regulatory agreements. Commissioners also pressed staff for clearer outreach to contracted partners, small businesses and community groups about available prevention funds; Gentry said staff will send targeted communications and work with county partners and the CIO to widen dissemination.

What happens next: Staff said they will continue capital and community engagement work on Cornell Road and the Central County Safe Rest Village, finalize outreach materials for partners, and track the status of eviction and homelessness prevention disbursements.

Sources and attribution: Direct quotes and figures in this article are from Molly Rogers, Jill Chen and Katie Gentry during the Feb. 17 Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting.