Amid a 14% rise in homelessness in Lane County, the Eugene City Council on Monday approved nearly $710,000 in funding from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to support new housing projects.

Established in 2019, the AHTF is funded by a City Council-approved 0.5% city construction excise tax and city general fund dollars. City officials say the AHTF was created to “provide a dedicated source of funding for affordable housing in Eugene.” 

City Housing Tools Analyst Laura Hammond said the goal of the AHTF is to provide more cost-effective housing to people with limited incomes in Eugene.

“We want homes to be affordable so that people aren’t cost-burdened,” Hammond said.

Hammond said that the AHTF aims to reduce the number of residents spending more than half of their income on housing. Ideally, she said, people should be spending around 30% of their income on housing. 

Seventy-five percent of the city-managed AHTF fund is allocated toward constructing affordable housing for renters and first-time homeowners, while the remaining 25% provides direct assistance, such as rent relief and down payment support. In recent years, AHTF dollars have backed transitional housing for veterans and others exiting homelessness.

This year’s AHTF awards

This year, the AHTF received three proposals and one additional funding request from four different organizations: DevNW, Community Development Partners, Cascade Housing Association and Cornerstone Community Housing. 

At the Monday meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to select three of the proposals: Cascade Housing Association, Community Development Partners and Cornerstone Community Housing. City officials said the nearly $710,000 in AHTF funding will help create 205 new affordable housing units. They added that it will also help ensure the financial stability of one project through additional funding. 

AHTF’s impact

Over the past three years, more than $3 million in AHTF funding has supported the development of 280 affordable housing units citywide. In addition to new housing, the fund has helped nearly 200 Eugene households stay housed through rent relief and foreclosure prevention.

Cultivate, Inc., a recipient of AHTF funding in 2023, said the funding was essential for its Grant Street Grow Homes affordable housing project.

“Without the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, this project would not have happened,” Cultivate owner Dylan Lamar said.

St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, a recipient of AHTF funding in 2022, echoed a similar sentiment. Real Estate Development Director Kristen Karle said the AHTF was crucial in making Williams Place, a transitional housing site for veterans experiencing homelessness, a reality.

“If we didn’t have the AHTF, we probably wouldn’t have been able to move forward with this project,” Karle said. She added that it is “really difficult” to get funding for transitional housing.

Homes for Good, a recipient of AHTF funding in 2023, said the funding will allow the organization to increase capacity at its future Coleman affordable housing site by more than 25%. Real Estate Development Director Audrey Banks said the Coleman will have 52 housing units instead of 38 because of the AHTF funding.

Homelessness on the rise in Lane County

Despite ongoing investment through the AHTF and state affordable housing programs, homelessness is still increasing in Lane County.

On Jan. 29, 2025, Lane County’s Point-in-Time Count recorded 3,509 people experiencing homelessness — a 14% increase from the previous year. Eugene city officials estimate that approximately 3,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Eugene. This means that about 85% of people experiencing homelessness in Lane County live in Eugene.

Since last year’s count, the number of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness has risen by 8%. The number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness has also increased by nearly 17% since last year’s count. According to the count, nearly half of those counted were chronically unhoused.

A recently released city report shows that the City of Eugene has made some progress on its 2022-2027 Housing Implementation Plan, a five-year strategic work plan to address homelessness and increase housing affordability and supply through coordinated, equity-focused policies and investment. Between June 2022 and June 2024, the report says that 2,385 new housing units were permitted — nearly 40% of the city’s goal of permitting 6,000 units by 2027.

Despite these gains, only 196 of the 835 city-supported affordable housing units that the five-year plan aims to deliver by 2027 had been completed as of June 2024. Officials said that “without intervention and increased investments,” the city is unlikely to meet that goal.

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