When Pierre Fuqua goes to work as a certified nurse’s aid, he steps in and does whatever is needed, going beyond the job description with his attitude and work ethic.
“I help everybody, other CNAs and patients — I do two or three tasks at a time,” Fuqua said. “Sometimes people ask me if I am busy and I say yes before I ask what they need. That’s my M.O.”
After experiencing homelessness, Fuqua credits the job training he earned through the Career Start program at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization for his current stability. Supportive Housing Services funded rapid rehousing assistance and shelter for Fuqua before he found more stable housing and work. He now rents an apartment and walks the short distance to work every day.
But the funding that supported Fuqua’s turnaround might not be there for others in the future.
Workforce development programs are one component of homeless services funded via the Supportive Housing Services tax. Under the tax, individuals pay 1% of taxable income over $125,000 annually. For couples, the tax applies to income over $200,000 per year. A 1% income tax also applies to businesses with gross annual income over $5 million. Voters approved the tax in 2020 and it will expire in 2030 unless residents of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties vote to renew it.
Renewing SHS funding is an urgent issue, according to Angela Martin, director of HereTogether Oregon, a coalition of more than 250 nonprofits addressing homelessness in Oregon.
“It must be renewed before 2030,” Martin said. “The stakes couldn’t be higher. The smartest thing to do is vote on SHS in 2026, if not sooner. More than 40% of funding for homeless services comes from SHS. Our regional funding will soon have an even larger role. This is not a world where we can contemplate not renewing this measure. Because it is such an important source of funding, organizations like IRCO need some degree of certainty because people’s lives are on the line here.”
Emily Green, a spokesperson from the Metro Housing Department, shares these concerns.
“In five years, the Supportive Housing Services fund will be just as vital as it is now, if not more,” Green said. “Because if the fund expires, thousands of people across the region will lose their housing and hundreds of shelter beds will lose their funding. This is why the Metro Council is focused on finding ways to improve the program now, so that hopefully voters will feel confident enough in the program to continue funding it into the future.”
Integrating housing and employment
Emily Roots is the public relations supervisor for Washington County Housing services, and met Fuqua in May. Because he is employed, Fuqua no longer needs his two-year housing voucher, which expired at the end of September.
“We have explored how valuable it is to integrate housing and workforce training,” Roots said. “Last year we served 80 participants and 60% were connected with jobs. They were hired because of training. Some got promoted and some got new jobs. Quite a few were in shelter but held down a job.”
The integration with job training and rapid rehousing is critical to helping people stabilize their lives, Roots said, and the county is able to serve new participants when people like Fuqua move on to paying their own rent as rapid rehousing vouchers expire.
“The Career Start program would not exist without SHS funding,” Roots said.
IRCO provides career coaching services to community members in the form of the Career Start program through a grant managed by Worksystems, the Portland Metro Workforce Development Board. Worksystems works with Washington, Multnomah County and Clackamas County on workforce development. According to Roots, participants who receive a Supportive Housing Services housing voucher, such as the Rapid Rehousing and Regional Long-term Rental Assistance program, are eligible to participate and referred in through the service provider conducting their case management.
Alyssa Hall is the Adult Workforce Development program coordinator at IRCO. She oversees the program and has seen participants gain job skills and independence.
“These participants come from all walks of life, whether it be living in shelter, out of their car, struggling to make rent every month, or had just one major life event turn their world upside down,” Hall wrote in an email to Street Roots. “The Supportive Housing team helps get them back on their feet with a place to call home and rent assistance for up to two years.”
The Enhanced Rapid Rehousing team refers participants to the program, Hall said. If clients complete job training and can earn higher wages alongside support with rent, they have a better chance of transitioning to paying their own rent when their rental assistance ends.
Hall echoed Roots’ concerns about the value of continued funding for Career Start.
“Unfortunately, there really aren’t many options for one-on-one, long-term career coaching services in Washington County, so in the absence of other programs to fill this need, rapid rehousing participants would no longer have access to coaching services and would have to find employment on their own,” Hall said. “Many of them come to our program without even having a resume to use for job applications or any idea that there are opportunities to access scholarships for trainings so they can get a better job.”
From June 2024 to June 2025, Career Start enrolled 78 new participants from Enhanced Rapid Rehousing Services. In the past three months, 17 more participants have joined, Hall said.
“Almost all participants have already been housed and provided with rent assistance, but one or two had only recently been enrolled in the housing program and were still living in shelter while in the process of working with their housing case manager to find permanent housing,” Hall said. “Because living without reliable housing can be so destabilizing, we have generally seen more success with achieving employment and training goals after participants have secured housing.”
Employment and training services give people a chance to build futures and reach new goals. For Fuqua, getting housed first made all the difference in finding stability.
“This absolutely in every possible way made me able to get training,” Fuqua said. “It is paramount that you have a place to live. Being homeless is enough with that insecurity of where to sleep and where you wake up. Without this place I would not have been able to study and pass tests.”
Career choices
Worksystems and IRCO have a longstanding partnership in employment and training programs. Their partnership has shown that housing is often one of the first steps in the path to supporting success and provides a foundation for employment and training services, Hall said. That offers participants the opportunity to grow, think about what they want their lives to look like, and move forward toward something new.
Workforce training takes many forms. Through nonprofit programs like Career Start, Washington County has provided career support, such as paralegal training, business planning and dental assistant training. It includes job readiness like practicing interview skills, writing cover letters and resumes. The county also helps participants with testing materials and preparation, and covers the cost for in-person practicums. When people find the career that fits them, the program can refer them to places for training.
Roots said the county helped one person negotiate her salary. Career Start helped another woman develop a business plan for her own cleaning business after being a house cleaner for years. She was able to implement consistent pay rates and navigate tax forms.
“When a participant is referred to the Career Start program, they first talk with a career coach about their current situation, their motivations, their short and long-term employment goals, and any barriers they might have that stand in the way,” Hall said.
They make a plan together and follow it step-by-step. The program is aimed at helping people toward career-track employment, which means jobs with livable wages and opportunities for advancement in high-demand fields. Some have found jobs in construction, healthcare reception, social services and automotive services.
Phuong Vo coached Fuqua for over a year at IRCO’s Career Start program. She is currently working with 44 clients, 18 of whom have found employment through the program.
Before working with Vo, Fuqua worked as a caregiver 10 hours or less per week at $17 per hour. It was not enough income to support himself and his son.
“We talked about a good path and what he liked to do,” Vo said. “He finds meaning in working with people and had been a caregiver, so CNA training gave him more opportunities. He got a full-time job with benefits and higher pay.”
Vo recently helped a client to access semi-conductor training through a connection with the Quick Start program at Portland Community College. The client had manufacturing experience but had taken a break from work. Vo encouraged and supported her with completing a resume. She did get a job with higher pay after the training.
Career Start has a partnership with Portland Community College staff, so some participants take part in paid internships to gain experience in their chosen fields.
Vo works with clients from a variety of backgrounds. Some have criminal records, some have experienced mental and physical health problems and other challenging situations. The goal is for them to stand on their own feet, Vo said.
Fuqua is now starting life without a rent voucher and will continue to work and pay his own bills.
“The most rewarding thing is being able to take care of my 17-year-old teenager,” Fuqua said. “Because of the circumstances I am in now I can keep my family together.”
Career Start is one of many programs that help people who have struggled with employment and stable housing. Through Worksystems, Washington County also collaborates with other nonprofits on job training support to help people establish housing stability.
Much of the funding for Worksystems comes from the U.S. Department of Labor and federal grants — another unstable income stream.
“There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the severity of challenges that might be straining the homeless system in five years, given the changing federal investments in social programs and state and local economic forecasts,” Green said.
Metro collects and distributes SHS funding to the counties. With this set to expire in 2030, collaborations with housing and workforce development programs could be endangered.
“We can’t let people have such uncertainty about whether their lifeline will expire,” Martin said. “Common sense and research tell us that those who are physically able to get back in the workforce have better mental health and physical well being. It’s a lifeline to long-term stability. It’s what the public wants and people experiencing homelessness want. There is more demand for workforce training than spots.”
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This article appears in October 1, 2025.