In the Portland, Oregon metropolitan region, homelessness has become increasingly visible on our streets and in our media headlines. Conflicting rates of who is experiencing homelessness, differing definitions of who is at risk, and varying cost estimates to help those without a stable place to live leave community members confused about the scale and scope of the challenge that we face. Our overarching goal in this report is to provide information that helps the public deliberate about how to support people experiencing homelessness, and prevent future homelessness. We thread together three areas of work - governance, costs, and revenue - to help the region discuss how to collectively move forward.

We start with a discussion about governance for a regional approach to address homelessness. We then offer two sets of conceptual cost estimates. These ballpark figures are meant to help the community understand the number of people experiencing homelessness and facing housing insecurity. Lastly, we examine a range of revenue-raising options for the tri-county region to give communities an idea of how to find resources to address and prevent homelessness. In all three sections our goal is to paint a picture with a broad brush of the landscape in which we are operating.